The Catholic Church in

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

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 1,483,000 million Catholics representing approximately 25 percent of the total population of 5,968,000. There are seven

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: *

Lomé Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437

** Aného **

Atakpamé Atakpamé is the fifth largest city in Togo by population (84,979 inhabitants in 2006), located in the Plateaux Region of Togo. It is an industrial centre and lies on the main north-south highway, 161 km north of the capital Lomé. It is ...

Dapaong Dapaong (also known as Dapaongo or Dapango) is a city in northern Togo and prefecture seat of Tône in the Savanes Region, of which it is also the capital. It had a population of 58,071 at the 2010 Census. It is situated 638 km north of th ...

Kara Kara or KARA may refer to: Geography Localities * Kara, Chad, a sub-prefecture * Kára, Hungary, a village * Kara, Uttar Pradesh, India, a township * Kara, Iran, a village in Lorestan Province * Kara, Republic of Dagestan, a rural locality in Da ...

Kpalimé Kpalimé is a city in the Plateaux Region of Togo, 120 km north of Lomé and 15 km from the border with Ghana. It is the administrative capital of Kloto Prefecture. Kpalimé has a population of 75,084, making it the fourth-biggest to ...

Sokodé Sokodé is the second largest city in Togo and seat of the Tchaoudjo and Centrale Region in the center of the country, north of Lomé. With a population of 86,500 (2004), currently at around 189,000, the city is situated between the Mo and Mono ...

History

The history of the Catholic Church in Togo began with the

evangelization In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are ...

carried out by the missionaries of the

Society of African Missions The Society of African Missions ( la, Societas Missionum ad Afros; ) abbreviated SMA, also known as the SMA Fathers, is a Catholic religious Society of Apostolic Life of pontifical right for men founded by Melchior de Marion Brésillac in 1856 ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

starting in 1882; four years later the Togo mission was founded, but its founder, the priest Jeremiah Moran, was poisoned in 1886. In 1892 the mission was entrusted to the Missionaries of the Divine Word, and made an apostolic vicariate in 1914. Because of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the Verbites, all Germans, were first interned and then expelled from the country. So evangelism passed again, in 1921, to the Fathers of the African missions: in 1930 there was the priestly ordination of the first Togolese. On 15 September 1955 the ecclesiastical hierarchy was established and the country was divided into

dioceses 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 ...

. In 1985, the Togolese Catholic Church received a pastoral visit from

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. On 8 April 2014, the

Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments it, Dicastero per il Culto Divino e la Disciplina dei Sacramenti , type = Dicastery , seal = Coat of arms Holy See.svg , seal_size = 100px , seal_caption = Coat of arms of the Holy See , logo = , p ...

confirmed Saint John Paul II as the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of Togo.

Apostolic Nunciature to Togo

The apostolic delegation of Togo and Guinea was established on 21 May 1973 with the brief ''Qui benignissima'' of

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

; it was based in the city of

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, making it the sixth most populous city p ...

in the Ivory Coast. In 1982, with the establishment of diplomatic relations between the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

and the Togo, the apostolic nunciature of Togo was created. The seat of the nuncio is the city of Cotonou in

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...

Apostolic Delegates

Bruno Wüstenberg Bruno Wüstenberg (10 March 1912 – 31 May 1984) was a German prelate of the Catholic Church who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. Biography Bruno Wüstenberg was born on 10 March 1912 in Duisburg, Germany. He studied Ca ...

, Titular Archbishop of Tire (19 Dec 1973 Appointed - 17 Jan 1979 Appointed, Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to the Netherlands) * Giuseppe Ferraioli, Titular Archbishop of Volturno (25 Aug 1979 Appointed - 21 Jul 1981 Appointed, Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Kenya)

Apostolic pro-nuncios

Ivan Dias Ivan Cornelius Dias (14 April 1936 – 19 June 2017) was an Indian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples from 2006 to 2011, Archbishop of Bombay from 1996 to 2006, and befo ...

, Titular Archbishop of Rusubisir (8 May 1982 Appointed - 20 Jun 1987 Appointed, Apostolic Nuncio to Korea) * Giuseppe Bertello, Titular Archbishop of Urbisaglia (17 October 1987 Appointed - 12 January 1991 Appointed, Apostolic Nuncio to Rwanda) * Abraham Kattumana, Titular Archbishop of Cebarades (8 May 1991 – 16 December 1992 Appointed Pontifical Delegate for the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and President of the Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church)

Apostolic nuncios

* André Pierre Louis Dupuy, Titular Archbishop of Selsey (6 Apr 1993 Appointed - 27 Mar 2000 Appointed, Apostolic Nuncio to Venezuela) *

George Kocherry George Kocherry (born 4 February 1945) is an Indian prelate of the Syro-Malabar Church who joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1978 and became an archbishop and nuncio in 2000. After serving as apostolic nuncio to Togo, Ghana, and ...

, Titular Archbishop of Othona (June 10 2000 - 2002 Resigned) * Pierre Nguyễn Văn Tốt, Titular Archbishop of Rusticiana (25 Nov 2002 Appointed - 24 Aug 2005 Appointed, Apostolic Nuncio to the Central African Republic) * Michael August Blume, SVD Titular Archbishop of Alessano (24 Aug 2005 Appointed - 2 Feb 2013 Appointed, Apostolic Nuncio to Uganda) * Brian Udaigwe, Titular Archbishop of Suelli (16 Jul 2013 Appointed - 13 Jun 2020 Appointed, Apostolic Nuncio to Sri Lanka) * Mark Gerard Miles, from March 2, 2021

Episcopal Conference of Togo

The local episcopate constitutes the Episcopal Conference of Togo (''Conférence Episcopale du Togo'', CET). CET is a member of the ''Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa'' (RECOWA) and of the ''Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar'' (SECAM). List of presidents: * Robert-Casimir Tonyui Messan Dosseh-Anyron, Archbishop of Lomé (1970 - 1992) * Philippe Fanoko Kossi Kpodzro, Archbishop of Lomé (1992 - 2006) * Ambroise Kotamba Djoliba, Bishop of Sokodé (2006 - November 2012) * Benoît Comlan Messan Alowonou, bishop of Kpalimé, since November 2012 List of Vice Presidents: * Denis Komivi Amuzu-Dzakpah, Archbishop, then Archbishop Emeritus of Lomé, since November 2012

References

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