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Archdiocese of Onitsha

Onitshan(us)

Metropolitan see · Latin Church · Onitsha, Nigeria

The Archdiocese of Onitsha is a metropolitan Latin Church archdiocese in Anambra State, Nigeria, originating as the Apostolic Prefecture of the Lower Niger in 1889 and elevated to an archdiocese in 1950. It is the metropolitan see for a province of suffragan dioceses across Anambra, Enugu, and Ebonyi States.

The see

Rank
Metropolitan see
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
18 April 1950
Latin
Onitshan(us)
Patron
Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi
Annuario code
001002457

The see in figures

Catholics
1,370,000
Population
2,060,490
Catholic shareof the people living within its bounds
66.5%
Priests
544
Catholics per priest
2,518
Extent
1,390 km²
Catholics per km²
986

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

Archbishop
Valerian Maduka Okeke
Born
20 October 1953
Birthplace
Umudioka

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 Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity, Onitsha stands in Onitsha, 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 Onitsha

This see is the metropolitan of its province.

The sees of this province:

On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.

History

Anambra State, Nigeria is home to the Archdiocese of Onitsha (Latin: Archidiœcesis Onitshanus), a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church whose territory takes in the towns of Onitsha, Ogidi, Nkpor, Nnobi, Ojoto, Oba, Nkwelle Ezunaka, Umuoji, and Umudioka and Abatete. By population it is the largest diocese in Nigeria: 196 parishes serve around 1.3 million Catholics, alongside hundreds of Catholic schools, hospitals and charities.

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Sources

The see's own website · Wikipedia

Compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. Corrections: hello@catholicintelligence.com.