The Apostolic Vicariate of Nekemte () is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

apostolic vicariate An apostolic vicariate is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church under a titular bishop centered in missionary regions and countries where dioceses or parishes have not yet been established. The status of apostolic vicariate is often ...

(pre-

diocesan 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 associated ...

jurisdiction) located in

Nekemte Nekemte, also spelled as Neqemte (, Amharic: ነቀምት), is a market city and separate woreda in western Ethiopia. Located in the East Welega Zone of the Oromia Region, Nekemte has a latitude and longitude of and an elevation of 2,088 mete ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

(where

Ethiopian Orthodox The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church () is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Christian churches in Africa originating before European colonization of the continent, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church dates bac ...

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

and Coptic Catholicism are predominant). The see is directly subject to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

(not part of any

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 ...

) and its

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 seat is the Cathedral of Kidane Meheret, in Nekemte. The Vicariate Apostolic of Nekemte comprises the following: Oromia region: # East Welega zone # West Welega zone # Kelem Welega zone # Horo Guduru wollega zone # West Showa Zone Benishangul Gumuz Region: # Assosa zone # Kamashi zone

History

* January 28, 1913: Established as

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 Southern Kaffa / Kaffa Meridionale (Italiano), on territory split off from the Apostolic Vicariate of Galla * September 8, 1913: Renamed as Apostolic Prefecture of Kaffa * March 25, 1937: Promoted as

Apostolic Vicariate An apostolic vicariate is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church under a titular bishop centered in missionary regions and countries where dioceses or parishes have not yet been established. The status of apostolic vicariate is often ...

of Gimma, hence entitled to a

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 ...

, having lost territory to establish the

Apostolic Prefecture of Neghelli The Apostolic Vicariate of Awasa () is a Roman Catholic Apostolic Vicariate in central Ethiopia. It is exempt, i.e. directly dependent on the Holy See (notably the Roman missionary Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples), not part of any ...

* Lost territories on 1940.02.13 to establish Apostolic Prefecture of Hosanna and

Apostolic Prefecture of Endeber The Apostolic Prefecture of Endeber was a short-lived (1940-1951) Latin Church missionary jurisdiction named after the town of Endeber in western Ethiopia. Not being of diocesan rank, it was not part of an ecclesiastical province and was directly ...

* September 3, 1982: Renamed after its see as Apostolic Vicariate of Nekemte / Nekemteën(sis) (Latin) * Lost territory on 1994.06.10 to establish Apostolic Prefecture of Jimma–Bonga.

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 46,900 Latin Catholics (0.6% of 7,831,000 total) on 98,792 km² in 93 parishes and 26 missions with 38 priests (30 diocesan, 8 religious), 6 deacons, 56 lay religious (14 brothers, 42 sisters) and 15 seminarians .

Leadership

;Apostolic Prefect of Southern Kaffa * Father

Gaudenzio Barlassina Gaudenzio is an Italian masculine given name. It arose from the Latin ''Gaudentius'' which means happy. Notable persons with that name include: People with the given name Gaudenzio * Gaudenzio Bernasconi, Italian footballer * Gaudenzio Botti, It ...

Consolata Missionaries The Institute of Consolata Missionaries (), commonly called the Consolata Missionaries, is a Catholic religious congregation of Pontifical Right with branches for both men and women. Its members add the nominal I.M.C. after their names to indicat ...

(I.M.C.) (May 6, 1913 – September 8, 1913) ;Apostolic Prefects of Kaffa * Father

, I.M.C. (September 8, 1913 – 1933) * Fr. Luigi Santa, I.M.C. (July 14, 1934 – March 15, 1937) ;Apostolic Vicars of Gimma *

Luigi Santa Luigi (; ) is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Part of Nintendo's ''Mario'' franchise, he is a kind-hearted, cowardly Italian plumber, and the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario. Like ...

, I.M.C. (March 15, 1937 – November 1943), appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Rimini, Italy **

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 ...

Urbain-Marie Person, O.F.M. Cap. (1952–1958) **Apostolic Administrator Fr. Frans Janssen,

Lazarists The Congregation of the Mission (), abbreviated CM and commonly called the Vincentians or Lazarists, is a Catholic society of apostolic life of pontifical right for men founded by Vincent de Paul. It is associated with the Vincentian Family, ...

(C.M.) (1958 – May 21, 1959) * Frans Janssen, C.M. (''see above'' May 21, 1959 – 1972) ** Apostolic Administrator Fr.

Herman Wilhelm Teuben Herman may refer to: People * Herman (name), list of people with this name * Saint Herman (disambiguation) * Peter Noone (born 1947), known by the mononym Herman Places in the United States * Herman, Arkansas * Herman, Michigan * Herman, Minn ...

, C.M. (1972 – December 17, 1977) * Hendrik Joseph Alois Bomers, C.M. (December 17, 1977 – September 3, 1982) ;Apostolic Vicars of Nekemte *

Hendrik Joseph Alois Bomers Hendrik may refer to: People * Hendrik (given name) Hendrik is a given name of Dutch origin, and a cognate to the English Henry. The spelling Hendrick or Henderick was interchangeable until the 19th century. Birth names of people with this name ...

, C.M. (September 3, 1982 – October 19, 1983), appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Haarlem, Netherlands * Fikre-Mariam Ghemetchu, C.M. (October 28, 1985 – January 18, 1994) * Leonardus Dobbelaar, C.M. (June 10, 1994 – March 21, 2008) **Apostolic Administrator

Theodorus Van Ruijven Theodoros or Theodorus () is a masculine given name, from which Theodore is derived. The feminine version is Theodora. It may refer to: Ancient world :''Ordered chronologically'' * Theodorus of Samos, 6th-century BC Greek sculptor, architect a ...

, C.M. (July 2008 – July 23, 2009) *

, C.M. (''see above'' July 23, 2009 – November 10, 2013) * Varghese Thottamkara, C.M. (first as (November 10, 2013 – May 10, 2023)

Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic

* Varghese Thottamkara, C.M. (June 28, 2013 - November 10, 2013)

References

External links

GCatholic.org - data for all sections

Roman Catholic dioceses in Ethiopia Apostolic vicariates

Religious organizations established in 1913 Religion is a range of social-cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural, transc ...

Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century

Oromia Region Oromia (, ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. Under Article 49 of 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Constitution, the capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa, also called Finfinne. The ...

1913 establishments in Ethiopia Events January * January – Joseph Stalin travels to Vienna to research his ''Marxism and the National Question''. This means that, during this month, Stalin, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito are all living in the city. * January 3 – ...