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 share
- 66.5%
- Priests
- 544
- Catholics per priest
- 2,518
- Extent
- 1,390 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 986
of the people living within its bounds
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:
- Diocese of AbakalikiAbakaliki
- Diocese of AguleriAguleri
- Diocese of AwguAwgu
- Diocese of AwkaAwka
- Diocese of EkwulobiaEkwulobia
- Diocese of EnuguEnugu
- Diocese of NnewiNnewi
- Diocese of NsukkaNsukka
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.
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.
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].