The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja is the Metropolitan See for 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 ...

of Abuja in Nigeria.

History

* 8 November 1981: Established as Mission '' sui iuris'' of Abuja from the

Diocese of Minna The Anglican Diocese of Minna is one of eleven within the Anglican Province of Lokoja, itself one of 14 provinces within the Church of Nigeria. The current bishop is Daniel Abubakar Yisa who is also Archbishop of the Province A province is a ...

* 19 June 1989: Promoted to the Diocese of Abuja * 26 March 1994: Promoted to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Abuja

Special churches

The seat of the archbishop is

Our Lady, Queen of Nigeria Pro-Cathedral Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a government utility regulato ...

located in Area 3, Garki district, in Abuja near the secretariate of the Archdiocese of Abuja. It was dedicated by John Cardinal Onaiyekan on Saturday, 12 January 2012.

Bishops

;Ecclesiastical Superiors * Cardinal Dominic Ignatius Ekandem (11 June 1981 – 19 June 1989 ''see below'') ; Bishops * Cardinal Dominic Ignatius Ekandem (''see above'' 19 June 1989 – 28 September 1992), simultaneously became Archbishop (personal title) *

John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan (born 29 January 1944) is a Nigerian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of Abuja from 1994 to 2019 and was made a cardinal in 2012. He has served as president of the Christian Association of Nigeri ...

(7 July 1990 as coadjutor, 28 September 1992 – 26 March 1994 ''see below''); future Cardinal ;Metropolitan Archbishops *

(''see above'' 26 March 1994 – 9 November 2019) (Cardinal in 2012) *

Ignatius Ayau Kaigama Ignatius Ayau Kaigama (born 31 July 1958) is a Nigerian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been the archbishop of Abuja since 9 November 2019. He was the first bishop of Jalingo from 1995 to 2000, archbishop of Jos from 2000 to 2019, and coadj ...

(11 March 2019 as coadjutor, 9 November 2019 – present)

Auxiliary Bishop

* Anselm Umoren, M.S.P.N. (2011-)

Suffragan dioceses

Idah Idah is a town in Kogi State, Nigeria, on the eastern bank of the Niger River in the middle belt region of Nigeria. It is the headquarter of the Igala Kingdom, and also a Local Government Area with an area of 36 km. Idah had a population ...

Lafia Lafia is a town in North Central Nigeria. It is the capital city of Nasarawa State and has a population of 330,712 inhabitants according to the 2006 census results. It is the largest town in Nasarawa state. History Lafia, also known as Lafian b ...

* Lokoja *

Makurdi Makurdi is the capital of Benue State, located in central Nigeria, and part of the Middle Belt region of central Nigeria. The city is situated on the south bank of the Benue River. In 2016, Makurdi and the surrounding areas had an estimated popul ...

Otukpo Otukpo is a town in Benue State, Nigeria located in the Middle Belt Region of Nigeria. It is also the eponymous name of a subgroup of the Idoma people. Otukpo is the headquarters of the Otukpo Local Government Area. It was the headquarters of the ...

Gboko Gboko is a town in the Benue State of North-central Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. ...

; split from the Diocese of Makurdi on Saturday, 29 December 2012 *

Katsina-Ala Katsina-Ala is a Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Katsina-Ala where the A344 highway starts. It is also the location of an important archeological site where artifacts of the Nok culture hav ...

; split from the Diocese of Makurdi on Saturday, 29 December 2012

Persecution and insecurity

From November 2020 through January 2021, a rash of kidnappings have troubled the archdiocesan territory and its surroundings. On 22 November, the parish priest of St. Anthony in Yangogi was abducted at gunpoint. Held captive for 10 days, he was released. 344 schoolboys were abducted from Kankara in

Katsina Katsina, likely from "Tamashek" eaning son or bloodor mazza enwith "inna" otheris a Local Government Area and the capital city of Katsina State, in northern Nigeria.

. Held for six days, they were rescued by security forces on 17 December. Boko Haram claimed responsibility but this is disputed, says the

Catholic News Agency The Catholic News Agency (CNA) is a private institution of EWTN that provides news related to the Catholic Church to the global anglophone audience. Founded in 2004 as the English section of the worldwide ACI Group, it is headquartered in Denve ...

. On 27 December, auxiliary bishop of

Owerri Owerri ( , ) is the capital city of Imo State in Nigeria, set in the heart of Igboland. It is also the state's largest city, followed by Orlu, Okigwe and Ohaji/Egbema. Owerri consists of three Local Government Areas including Owerri Municipal, ...

, Moses Chikwe and his driver were abducted by gunmen, to be released unharmed. Valentine Ezeagu, a religious priest, was kidnapped by gunmen in Imo whilst en route to his father's funeral. Five young siblings were kidnapped from behind an Abuja rectory, and then a bride-to-be the following day, and , none had been located or heard from. , Nigeria has been listed by the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

as one of the worst countries in terms of

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freed ...

. Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama has called the faithful to be strong in their faith, and to persevere in their prayers with hope for everyone's release. In August 2022 Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama denounced widespread insecurity in the capital of Nigeria and denouncing the political class for not doing enough about it. He accused politicians of discriminating against Christians. "We cannot generalize by simply saying that Christians are persecuted, because in the governing party there are Christians. But persecution is not just about killing people with knives, it is about manipulating things in favor of one group. There is subtle persecution, which is even more dangerous. It is done in such a way that you cannot say they are really killing Christians, they have not pushed the Christians away, but the way the Government carries on you can be sure the Christians are not favored. There is no equality. We are a country that is more or less 50-50 Cristian-Muslim, so there should be equal distribution of resources, of opportunities, and people should feel included in sensitive political, economic or security positions."

Catholic television

In 2009, John Cardinal Onaiyekan was invited by Raymond Dokpesi, chief of the satellite television company DAAR Communications Plc, to offer programming through the company's services. In response to the opportunity, Cardinal Oneiyaken directed the Archdiocesan Communications Department to start a television service. ''

Catholic Television of Nigeria Catholic Television Nigeria is a Catholic television network based in Abuja, Nigeria. It is intended to be used as a tool of evangelisation to deepen the faith of the Catholic faithful within and outside Nigeria. Though yet to acquire a standar ...

'' started producing programs and transmitting them via DAAR's satellite television channel

AIT An ait (, like ''eight'') or eyot () is a small island. It is especially used to refer to river islands found on the River Thames and its tributaries in England. Aits are typically formed by the deposit of sediment in the water, which accumu ...

. As of 2016, CTV of Nigeria produces two programs, the daily morning devotional program "A Light For The Nation" and "Faith In Action", a program about the activity of Catholics and the Church in society. Cardinal Oneiyaken has continued to call for the building of Catholic television services in Nigeria. Rev. Fr. Patrick Alumuku is the Director of the CTV.

Sources

GCatholic.org

References

External links

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja official website

Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria

Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria

Catholic Television Facebook page

CTV YouTube Channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abuja Roman Catholic dioceses in Nigeria Abuja Christian organizations established in 1981 1981 establishments in Nigeria Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Abuja