Catholic Intelligence

Diocese of Keimoes–Upington

Keimoesan(us)-Upingtonen(sis)

The Diocese of Keimoes-Upington is a Latin Rite diocese in the Northern Cape of South Africa, raised to a diocese in 1951 and renamed in 1985. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Bloemfontein and has been sede vacante since Bishop Edward Gabriel Risi's tenure ended in December 2025.

The see

Rank
Suffragan diocese
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
8 February 1985
Latin
Keimoesan(us)-Upingtonen(sis)
Patron
Immaculate Conception and St. Francis de Sales
Annuario code
001001828

The see in figures

Catholics
60,501
Population
331,984
Catholic share
18.2%

of the people living within its bounds

Priests
21
Catholics per priest
2,881
Extent
272,265 km²
Catholics per km²
0.2

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 of Keimoes-Upington
Zolile Peter Mpambani
Born
20 February 1957
Birthplace
Umlamli
Institute
SACERDOTI DEL SACRO CUORE DI GESÙ (DEHONIANI)

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 the Immaculate Conception, Pella stands in Keimoes–Upington, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.

Its co-cathedral is Co-Cathedral of St. Augustine, Upington.

On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.

The province of Bloemfontein

A suffragan of Archdiocese of Bloemfontein.

The sees of this province:

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

History

Gathered around the towns of Keimoes and Upington in South Africa's Northern Cape (ZF Mgcawu District Municipality), the Diocese of Keimoes-Upington (Latin: Dioecesis Keimoesana-Upingtonensis) is a Latin Catholic see within the ecclesiastical province of Bloemfontein.

What is kept by invitation

The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.

The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.

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Sources

The see's own website · Wikipedia

This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].