The Catholic Church in Equatorial Guinea is part of the worldwide

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, under the spiritual leadership of the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Equatorial Guinea has one of the highest proportions of Catholics in Africa, a legacy of its status as a former Spanish colony. There are five

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

s, including one archdiocese. In 2005, about 422,000 (87%) of the 485,000 inhabitants of Equatorial Guinea were member of the

. Equatorial Guinea consists of a single ecclesiastical province, Malabo, with four suffragan dioceses in Bata, Ebebiyin, Evinayong and Mongomo. The Archdiocese of Malabo has the Archbishop of Malabo as metropolitan archbishop and spiritual leader of the catholic faithful of Equatorial Guinea. The current archbishop of Malabo is Nsue Edjang Mayé, former bishop of Ebebiyin. The emeritus archbishop is

Ildefonso Obama Obono Ildefonsus or Ildephonsus (rarely ''Ildephoses'' or ''Ildefonse''; Spanish: San Ildefonso; c. 8 December 607 – 23 January 667) was a scholar and theologian who served as the metropolitan Bishop of Toledo for the last decade of his life. His Go ...

. The bishops are members of the

Episcopal Conference of Equatorial Guinea The local conference of bishops is the Episcopal Conference of Equatorial Guinea (Spanish: Conferencia Episcopal de Guinea Ecuatorial, CEGE). The ECEG is a member of the Association des Conférences Episcopal de la Région de l'Afrique Central (ACE ...

(Conferencia Episcopal de Guinea Ecuatorial). President of the Episcopal Conference is Ildefonso Obama Obono, archbishop of Malabo. Furthermore, the Episcopal Conference is a member of the Association des Conferences Episcopales de l'Afrique Centrale and the Symposium des Conférences Épiscopales d'Afrique et de Madagascar. On April 1, 2017, the Holy See erected two new dioceses in Equatorial Guinea. The Diocese of Evinayong was erected from territories formerly belonging to the Diocese of Bata and the Diocese of Mongomo was carved out of the current Diocese of Ebebiyin. The Apostolic Nuncio to Equatorial Guinea since March 29, 2018 is Archbishop

Julio Murat Julio Murat (born on 18 August 1961 in Izmir, Turkey) is a Turkish prelate of the Catholic Church who works in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. Biography Julio Murat began his preparation for the priesthood in Rome, where on 25 May 1 ...

, the titular archbishop of

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

.Rinunce e nomine, 29.03.2018
(Accessed 31 December 2020)

Archdiocese

* Archdiocese of Malabo

Dioceses

Diocese of Bata In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

* Diocese of Ebebiyin * Diocese of Evinayong * Diocese of Mongomo

Nuncios

Apostolic Pro-Nuncio

* Archbishop

Luigi Poggi is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario, Nintendo' ...

(31 October 1966 - 21 May 1969 later Cardinal) * Archbishop Ernesto Gallina (July 16, 1969 - March 13, 1971) * Archbishop

Jean Jadot Jean Jadot (23 November 1909 – 21 January 2009) was a Belgian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as apostolic delegate to the United States (the first non-Italian to do so) from 1973 to 1980, and President of the Secretariat for ...

(15 May 1971 - 23 May 1973) * Archbishop Luciano Storero (30 June 1973 - 14 July 1976) * Archbishop Giuseppe Uhac (October 7, 1976 - June 3, 1981) * Archbishop Donato Squicciarini (16 September 1981 - 1 July 1989) * Archbishop

Santos Abril y Castelló Santos Abril y Castelló (born 21 September 1936) is a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church. After a career in the diplomatic corps of the Holy See, he held a number of positions in the Roman Curia and from 2011 to 2016 was Archpriest of the ...

(2 October 1989 - 24 February 1996)

Apostolic Nuncio

* Archbishop

Félix del Blanco Prieto Félix del Blanco Prieto (15 June 1937 – 10 April 2021) was a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See, including stints heading the missions in countries such as Angola and Malta amo ...

(4 May 1996 - 28 June 1996) * Archbishop

Eliseo Antonio Ariotti Eliseo Antonio Ariotti (born 17 November 1948) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who works in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He has been Apostolic Nuncio to Paraguay since 2009. Biography Eliseo Antonio Ariotti was born on ...

(17 July 2003 - 5 November 2009) * Archbishop

Piero Pioppo Piero Pioppo (born 29 September 1960) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church, who has been Apostolic Nuncio to Indonesia since 2017. Biography Piero Pioppo was born in Savona, in Liguria, on 29 September 1960. He studied at the Pontifi ...

(January 25, 2010 - September 8, 2017) * Archbishop

(since March 29, 2018)

References