Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nampula

Our Lady of Fatima Cathedral

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nampula (Latin: Nampulen(sis)) is an archbishopric and the metropolitan see for one of the three ecclesiastical provinces in Mozambique in (south)eastern Africa, yet still depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Its cathedral is the Catedral Metropolitana de Nossa Senhora de Fátima, dedicated to the diocesan patron saint Our Lady of Fatima, in Nampula.

History

• Established on 1940.09.04 by Pope Pius XII's papal bull Sollemnibus Conventionibus as the Diocese of Nampula, on territory split off from the then Territorial Prelature of Mozambique, which was simultaneously promoted and became its metropolitan as the Archdiocese of Lourenço Marques (now Maputo)
• Lost territories on 1957.04.05 to establish the Diocese of Porto Amélia (now its suffragan Pemba) and on 1963.07.21 to establish the Diocese of Vila Cabral (now its suffragan Lichinga)
• Promoted on 1984.06.04 as the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Nampula by the papal bull Quo efficacius by Pope John Paul II.
• Enjoyed a papal visit in September 1988 from the same pope
• Lost territory on 1991.10.11 to establish as its suffragan the Diocese of Nacala.

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 485,813 Catholics (13.7% of 3,547,000 total) on 51,000 km² in 40 parishes and a mission with 75 priests (36 diocesan, 39 religious), 270 lay religious (96 brothers, 174 sisters) and 19 seminarians.

Ecclesiastical province

Its Suffragan sees are all daughters :

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Lichinga (formerly Vila Cabral)
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Nacala
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Pemba (formerly Porto Amélia),

Episcopal ordinaries

(all Roman rite)

Suffragan Bishops of Nampula

• Teófilo José Pereira de Andrade, Friars Minor (O.F.M.) (born Portugal) (1941.05.12 – retired 1951.02.17), emeritus as Titular Bishop of Urusi (1951.02.17 – death 1954.10.25)
• Manuel de Medeiros Guerreiro (?Portuguese) (1951.03.02 – retired 1966.11.30), previously Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of São Tomé de Meliapor (India) (1937.04.10 – 1951.03.02); emeritus as Titular Bishop of Præcausa (1966.11.30 – resigned 1971.01.27), died 1978
• Manuel Vieira Pinto (1967.04.21 – 1984.06.04 see below), President of Episcopal Conference of Mozambique (1975 – 1976)

Metropolitan Archbishops of Nampula

• Manuel Vieira Pinto (see above 1984.06.04 – retired 2000.11.16), also Apostolic Administrator of the suffragan Diocese of Pemba (Mozambique) (1992.12.12 – 1998.01.18)
  • Auxiliary Bishop Germano Grachane, Lazarists (C.M.) (1990.01.22 – 1991.10.11), Titular Bishop of Thunusuda (1990.01.22 – 1991.10.11); later first bishop of suffragan daughter see Nacala (Mozambique) (1991.10.11 – ...)
• Tomé Makhweliha, Dehonians (S.C.I.) (2000.11.16 - retired 2016.07.25), also President of Episcopal Conference of Mozambique (2006 – 2009); previously Bishop of Pemba (Mozambique) (1997.10.24 – 2000.11.16) ^[1]
  • Apostolic Administrator Ernesto Maguengue (2016.07.25 - ...), while Titular Bishop of Furnos Minor (2014.08.06 – ...) as Auxiliary Bishop of Nampula (2014.08.06 – ...); previously Bishop of the Pemba (Mozambique) (2004.06.24 – 2012.10.27)
• Inácio Saure, Consolata Missionaries (I.M.C.) (2017.04.11 – ...), previously Bishop of the Tete (Mozambique) (2011.04.12 – 2017.04.11).

See also

• List of Catholic dioceses in Mozambique
• Roman Catholicism in Mozambique

References

Sources and external links

• GCatholic.org - data for all sections

Coordinates: 15°07′S 39°16′E / 15.117°S 39.267°E / -15.117; 39.267