The Catholic Church in Sierra Leone 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 ...

. There are approximately 800,000 Catholics in Sierra Leone - around 14% of the total population. The country is divided into four dioceses in one ecclesiastical province.

Origins

Catholic missionaries were active in the coastal regions of

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

from the early sixteenth century although only a few people converted to Catholicism.

Organization

The Catholic Church in Sierra Leone is organized in a Latin hierarchy and consists of a single

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of seve ...

that regulates all of

. This comprises the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Freetown, Metropolitan Archdiocese of Freetown and three suffragan dioceses. The Catholic Church in Sierra Leone does not have a national

Episcopal Conference An episcopal conference, sometimes called a conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The first assembly of bishops to ...

, however it is part of joint one for the Gambia and

, which hosts it in

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and po ...

. There are no titular sees. All defunct jurisdictions are precursors of present sees. There formally is an Apostolic Nunciature (embassy-level papal diplomatic representation) to Sierra Leone and an Apostolic Nunciature to The Gambia, but both are vested in the Apostolic Nunciature to Liberia (in its capital

Monrovia Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As th ...

The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Freetown

It was established as the '' Vicariate Apostolic'' of Sierra Leone, on 13 April 1858 by Pope

Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

, taking territory from the Vicariate Apostolic of Two Guineas and Senegambia. It itself lost territory in 1897 to the Prefecture Apostolic of Guinea Francese and in 1903 to the Prefecture Apostolic of Liberia. The vicariate was elevated to the status of a diocese, taking the name of ''Freetown and Bo'' on 18 April 1950. In 1952, the Prefecture Apostolic of Makeni was split off from its territory. The diocese was elevated to an archdiocese on 11 November 1970, at which time also the Diocese of Kenema was split off. On 15 January 2010, the Archdiocese of Freetown since then.

The Episcopal Diocese of Kenema

The Diocese of Kenema is a

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 ...

in the

Ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of seve ...

. It was established on 11 November 1970, with its territory being split off from the diocese of Freetown and Bo. The

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

is the St. Paul's Cathedral in

Kenema Kenema is the third largest city in Sierra Leone (after Freetown and Bo), and the largest city in the country's Eastern Province. It is the capital of Kenema District and a major economic center of the Eastern Province. At the 2015 national cens ...

The Episcopal Diocese of Makeni

The Diocese of Makeni is a

in the

. The

is the Our Lady of Fatima Cathedral in

Makeni Makeni is the largest city in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. The city is the capital of Bombali District, and is the economic center of the Northern Province. Makeni is the fifth largest city in Sierra Leone by population. The city of M ...

. * April 3, 1952: Established as Apostolic Prefecture of Makeni from territory of the Diocese of Freetown and Bo * February 24, 1962: Elevated to the status of a diocese

The Episcopal Diocese of Bo

In January 2011, the Diocese of Bo (''Dioecesis Boënsis'') was created in 2011 by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...

through the bull ''Petrini ministerii''. The seat of the diocese is at the Immaculate Church of Mary where the Roman Rite is observed and serves as the seat of the Diocese of Bo (''Dioecesis Boënsis'') which was created in 2011 by

through the bull ''Petrini ministerii''. There are about 50,000 Catholics under the jurisdiction of the diocese.

References

External links

Catholics and Cultures: Sierra Leone
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20170504130803/http://www.catholicchurchsl.org/ Catholic Bishops Conference Sierra Leone {{DEFAULTSORT:Catholic Church in Sierra Leone

Catholic Church in Africa, Sierra Leone