The Catholic Church in

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...

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 ...

and the Malawi bishops.

History

The first Catholic missionaries were

White Fathers , image = Cardinal Lavigerie.jpg , caption = Charles Lavigerie , abbreviation = M.Afr. , nickname = White Fathers , formation = , founder = Archbishop Charles-Martial Allem ...

(Pères Blancs in French) who arrived in Malawi in 1889. By 1904, the White Fathers had three permanent mission stations at Kachebere, Likuni, and Mua, and the Montforts had two missions, at Nguludi and Nzama. Most of the White Fathers were French and, among the early leaders, were Bishops Louis Auneau, Joseph Dupont, and

Mathurin Guillemé Mathurin Guillemé (3 July 1859 - 7 April 1942) was a Catholic White Fathers missionary who was Vicar Apostolic of Apostolic Vicariate of Nyassa, Nyassa in today's Malawi from 1911 until his resignation in 1934. Early years Mathurin Guillemé was ...

. It was not until 1937–38 that the first Malawi priests were ordained: Cornelio Chitsulo, Alfred Finye.Historical Dictionary of Malawi - Ihe International Monetary Fund - Page 298 Sarah Tenney, Norman K. Humphreys - 2011 -"In 1889, the White Fathers order became the first Roman Catholic missionary group to ...

Today

Today there are over 2 million Catholics in Malawi - around a third of Christians and a fifth of the total population. There are 2 archdioceses and 6

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: * Archdiocese of Blantyre ** Diocese of Chikwawa ** Diocese of Mangochi ** Diocese of Zomba *

Archdiocese of Lilongwe The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lilongwe ( la, Archidioecesis Lilongvensis) is the Roman Catholic archdiocese located in Lilongwe in Malawi. Before its elevation to an archdiocese in 2011, it had belonged to the ecclesiastical province of th ...

** Diocese of Dedza ** Diocese of Karonga ** Diocese of Mzuzu

References

{{Authority control White Fathers

1889 establishments in Africa

History

Today

See also

References