Catholic Church in Nigeria explained

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Catholic Church in Nigeria
Type:National polity
Main Classification:Catholic
Governance:Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria
Leader Title:Pope
Leader Name:Pope Francis
Leader Title1:President
Leader Name1:Lucius iwejuru Ugorji
Leader Title3:Apostolic Nuncio
Area:Nigeria
Language:English, Latin
Number Of Followers:-->35.0 million (2024)[1]
Website:Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria

The Catholic Church in Nigeria is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, the curia in Rome, and the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria (CBCN).

In 2022, the present president of the CBCN is Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, Archbishop of Owerri Archdiocese.[2] He followed on from the previous president, Augustine Obiora Akubeze.[3] [4]

Overview

The Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches comprise the world's largest Christian Church, and its largest religious grouping. In 2005, there were an estimated 19 million baptised Catholics in Nigeria.[5] In 2010 the Catholic population accounted for approximately 12.6% of the population,[6] 70% of which can be found in Southeast Nigeria.

Historically, the Holy Ghost Fathers maintained a strong presence in Igboland in today's Southeastern Nigeria, whereas the White Fathers operated in Western and Northern Nigeria, and the Society of African Missions in Lagos.[7]

Nigeria, together with Congo Democratic Republic, boasts of the highest number of priests in Africa. The boom in vocation to the priesthood in Nigeria is mainly in the Southeastern part, especially among the Igbo ethnic group, of which the first evangelizers were Holy Ghost Fathers.[7]

The second papal visit to the country in 1998 witnessed the beatification of Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi.[8] Pope John Paul II proclaimed him blessed at Oba, Onitsha Archdiocese, a local Church established by the apostle of eastern Nigerian, Bishop Joseph Shanahan, CSSp.

The official patron saints of Nigeria are Mary, Queen of Nigeria, and Patrick of Ireland.[9]

Demographics

Christianity was followed by an estimated 46.18% of the Nigerian population in 2020; one-quarter of Christians in Nigeria are Catholic (12.39% of the country's population).[10]

In the same year, over 9,500 priests and 6,500 nuns served over 4,000 parishes.[11]

List of dioceses

Archdioceses 9
Suffragan Dioceses 59
Apostolic Vicariates 2
Parishes 1,905 (2004)
Diocesan Priests 3,452
Religious Priests 694
♦Total Priests 4,146 (2004)
Religious Women 3,674
Major seminaries in Nigeria6
Major seminarians
Minor seminaries in Nigeria20
Minor seminarians
♦Total seminarians 3,755 (2004)
Educational institutes 4,163
Charitable institutes 1,202
References Italian page for 2004[12]

See main article: List of Catholic dioceses in Nigeria. Within Nigeria the hierarchy consists of:

(Cardinal Bishop)

Immediately subject to the Holy See:

Episcopal conference

See main article: Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria is the Nigerian episcopal conference. Its current President is Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji.

Catholic traditionalism

A more traditionalist subset of the Catholic Church is also present in Nigeria and embodied by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (Nne Enyemaka Shrine,[13] Umuaka). There also exists a community of the irregular status Society of St. Pius X (Saint Michael's Priory,[14] [15] Enugu).

Catholic universities in Nigeria

Major seminaries in Nigeria

Minor seminaries in Nigeria

Nigerians who have been canonized or beatified

Catholic religious congregations founded in Nigeria

Missionary societies active in Nigeria

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Table: Christian Population in Numbers by Country | Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project . Features.pewforum.org . 19 December 2011 . 16 July 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120107133111/http://features.pewforum.org/global-christianity/population-number.php . 7 January 2012 . dead .
  2. https://www.aciafrica.org/news/5416/newly-appointed-archbishop-in-nigeria-elected-president-of-catholic-bishops-conference Association of Catholic Information in Africa website, article dated 3/9/22
  3. Web site: Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN). www.cbcn-ng.org. 2019-04-09.
  4. Web site: Catholic bishops elect new president. Olowolagba. Fikayo. 2018-02-22. Daily Post Nigeria. en-US. 2020-03-17.
  5. Craig Timberg, "Nigeria's Spiritual Rainmaker is Eyed at Vatican," Washington Poet, 17 April 2005, A1
  6. Pew Research Center: Christian Population as Percentages of total population by country 2010 https://www.pewforum.org/2011/12/19/table-christian-population-as-percentages-of-total-population-by-country/
  7. Book: Ebuziem . Cajetan E. . Doing Ministry in the Igbo Context: Towards an Emerging Model and Method for the Church in Africa . 2011 . Peter Lang . 978-1-4331-1154-9 . 8 . en.
  8. Web site: Blessed Iwene Tansi: The patron saint of Nigeria's democracy @20. 2018-06-13. TheCable. en-US. 2020-03-17.
  9. Web site: Patron Saints: N - Saints & Angels. Catholic Online. en. 2019-04-09.
  10. https://www.thearda.com/world-religion/national-profiles?u=166c World Religions Database at the ARDA website, retrieved 2023-08-08
  11. https://www.catholicsandcultures.org/nigeria Catholics and Culture website, retrieved 2023-08-08
  12. Italian WikiPage Chiesa Cattolica in Nigeria statistics from 2004
  13. Web site: FSSP in Nigeria. www.fsspnigeria.org. 2019-04-09.
  14. Web site: District of Great Britain. District of Great Britain. en. 2019-04-09.
  15. Web site: First priory in Nigeria opened . https://archive.today/20130416000142/http://www.sspx.org/regional_sspx_news/africa/nigeria_priory-9-7-2012/nigeria_priory-9-7-2012.htm . 16 April 2013 . dead.
  16. Web site: Veritas University Abuja. www.veritas.edu.ng. 2019-04-09.
  17. Web site: Welcome to Pan-Atlantic University. en-GB. 2019-04-09.
  18. Web site: DON BOSCO INSTITUTE OF PHILOSOPHY, IBADAN - Lumen et Sapientia. en-US. 2019-04-09.
  19. Web site: Welcome. Dominican Institute. en-US. 2019-04-09.
  20. Web site: Untitled Document. www.afrikaworld.net. 2019-06-12.
  21. Web site: Daughters of Divine Love (DDL) website . 30 May 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140220022451/http://www.daughtersofdivinelovedev.org/ . 20 February 2014 . dead .

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