The Roman Catholic Diocese of Mweka () is a Latin

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, 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 Roman province, prov ...

in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

of The Metropolitan of

Kananga Kananga, formerly known as Luluabourg or Luluaburg, is the capital Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, city of the Kasai-Central, Kasai-Central Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and was the capital of the former Kasaï ...

in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

, it depends on the missionary

Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (CEP; ) was a congregation of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church in Rome, responsible for missionary work and related activities. It is also known by its former title, the Sacred Congrega ...

. Its

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

episcopal see is the Cathédrale Saint-Martin, in the city of Mweka in

Kasai Province Kasai or Kasaï may refer to: Places Congo * Congo-Kasaï, one of the four large provinces of Belgian Congo * Kasaï District, in the Kasai-Occidental province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo * Kasai Province, one of the provinc ...

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 346,580 Catholics (41.2% of 840,645 total) on 21,700 km² in 14 parishes with 43 priests (32 diocesan, 11 religious), 34 lay religious (21 brothers, 13 sisters) and 35 seminarians.

History

* Established on 24 March 1953 as the

Apostolic Prefecture An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

of Mweka, on territory split off from the then Apostolic Vicariate of Luluabourg * Promoted on 29 September 1964 as the Diocese of Mweka.

Ordinaries

(all

Latin Rite Latin Rite may refer to: *The Latin Church, a ''sui iuris'' church of the Catholic Church *The Latin liturgical rites, a family of Christian rites and uses which includes the Roman Rite *The Roman Rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritua ...

) ;''Apostolic Prefects of Mweka'' *

Apostolic administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

Bernard Mels,

Scheutists The CICM Missionaries, officially known as the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary () and often abbreviated as C.I.C.M, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men established in 1862 by the Belgian Cathol ...

(C.I.C.M.) (1953-1957), while

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Belali (10 March 1949 – 10 November 1959) & Apostolic Vicar of Luluabourg (Congo-Kinshasa) (10 March 1949 – 10 November 1959), later promoted that see's first Metropolitan Archbishop (10 November 1959 – 26 September 1967), then Archbishop-Bishop of Lwiza (Congo-Kinshasa) (26 September 1967 – retired 3 October 1970), emeritate as

Titular Archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Pulcheriopolis (3 October 1970 – resigned 17 May 1986), died 1992 * Marcel Evariste van Rengen,

Josephites of Belgium The Institute of the Josephites of Belgium (), commonly called Josephites is a Roman Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men devoted to the Christian education of the youth It was founded in Ghent Belgium by Canon van ...

(C.J.) (1957 – 29 September 1964 ''see below'') ;''Suffragan Bishops of Mweka'' * Marcel Evariste van Rengen, C.J. (''see above'' 29 September 1964 – death 15 March 1988) *

Emery Kabongo Kanundowi (1988 – 19 January 1989), while

Archbishop-Bishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

Luebo Luebo or Lwebo is a town (officially a Communes of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, commune) of Kasai Province in south-central Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is also the seat of the Luebo Territory, territory of the same name. As of 2 ...

(Congo-Kinshasa) (10 December 1987 – retired 14 August 2003); previously Second Private Secretary of the Pope (1982 – 10 December 1987) *

Gérard Mulumba Kalemba Gérard Mulumba Kalemba (8 July 1937 – 15 April 2020) was a Congolese prelate of the Catholic Church. Born in Kananga, Mulumba Kalemba was ordained to the priesthood in 1967. He was appointed bishop of Mweka in 1989, serving until his retireme ...

(19 January 1989 – 18 February 2017), died 15 April 2020 * Oscar Nkolo Kanowa,

(C.I.C.M.) (since 18 February 2017)

Sources and external links

GCatholic.org, with incumbent biography links and Google satellite photo

Roman Catholic dioceses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Christian organizations established in 1953 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century 1953 establishments in the Belgian Congo Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Kananga {{DRCongo-RC-diocese-stub

Statistics

History

Ordinaries

See also

Sources and external links