Catholic Intelligence

Diocese of São Tomé e Príncipe

Sancti Thomae in Insula

The Diocese of São Tomé e Príncipe, erected in 1534, covers the entire territory of São Tomé and Príncipe and is immediately subject to the Holy See. Its current bishop is João de Ceita Nazaré, appointed in January 2024.

The see

Rank
Diocese immediately subject to the Holy See
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
3 November 1534
Latin
Sancti Thomae in Insula
Patron
São Tomé Apóstolo
Annuario code
001003004

The see in figures

Catholics
112,000
Population
195,000
Catholic share
57.4%

of the people living within its bounds

Priests
15
Catholics per priest
7,467
Extent
1,001 km²
Catholics per km²
112

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

Bishop
João de Ceita Nazaré

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

Sé Catedral de Nossa Senhora da Graça (Cathedral of Our Lady of Grace), São Tomé stands in São Tomé e Príncipe, 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.

History

Covering the whole territory of the Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, the Roman Catholic Diocese of São Tomé and Príncipe (Latin: Sancti Thomae in Insula) is immediately subject to the Holy See and keeps its seat in the city of São Tomé. As of 2015, Catholics numbered 112,000, or 57.4% of the country's inhabitants.

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].