Diocese of Francistown
Francistaunen(sis)
Suffragan diocese · Latin Church · Francistown, Botswana
The Diocese of Francistown in northern Botswana was erected as an apostolic vicariate in 1998 and elevated to a diocese in 2017, suffragan to the Archdiocese of Pretoria. The see is sede vacante: Gabriel Lionel Afagbegee SVD serves as apostolic administrator, with Lawrence Ofentse Pheto named bishop-elect in April 2026.
The see
- Rank
- Suffragan diocese
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 2 October 2017
- Latin
- Francistaunen(sis)
- Patron
- Our Lady of the Desert, Saint Francis of Assisi
- Annuario code
- 001000405
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 31,100
- Population
- 1,306,000
- Catholic shareof the people living within its bounds
- 2.4%
- Priests
- 29
- Catholics per priest
- 1,072
- Extent
- 472,995 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 0.1
Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.
The bishop
- Apostolic Administrator
- Lawrence Ofentse Pheto
A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.
The cathedral
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Desert stands in Francistown, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.
On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.
The province of Pretoria
A suffragan of Archdiocese of Pretoria.
The sees of this province:
- Archdiocese of PretoriaPretoria
- Diocese of GaboroneGaborone
- Diocese of PolokwanePolokwane
- Diocese of RustenburgRustenburg
- Diocese of TzaneenTzaneen
- Diocese of WitbankWitbank
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
Located in the city of Francistown, Botswana, the Diocese of Francistown (Latin: Dioecesis Francistaunensis) is a Latin Catholic diocese belonging to the ecclesiastical province of Pretoria in South Africa.
How to reach it
- Diocesan offices
- Catholic Secretariat, St. Francis House, P.O. Box 702, Tsie Street 14061 Area W, Francistown, Botswana
- Telephone
- 2413.601; fax 2417.183
This see keeps no website of its own, so the address of its diocesan offices is published here: withholding it would protect nothing and leave a reader with nowhere to go. Where a see publishes its own site, the register sends you there instead.
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Compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. Corrections: hello@catholicintelligence.com.