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 List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, under the spiritual leadership of the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. According to 2011 data, there are approximately 300,000 Catholics in Sierra Leone - around 5% of the total population. The country is divided into four dioceses in one ecclesiastical province.

Origins

Catholic

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

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 to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

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, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

that regulates all of

. This comprises the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Freetown and three

suffragan diocese A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandr ...

s. The Catholic Church in Sierra Leone does not have a national

Episcopal Conference An episcopal conference, often also called a bishops’ conference or 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 fir ...

, however it is part of joint one for the

Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

and

, which hosts it in

Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, 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, e ...

. There are no titular sees. All defunct jurisdictions are precursors of present sees. There formally is an

Apostolic Nunciature An apostolic nunciature is a top-level diplomatic mission of the Holy See that is equivalent to an embassy. However, it neither issues visas nor has consul (representative), consulates. The head of the apostolic nunciature is called a ''nuncio ...

(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 Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

(in its capital

Monrovia Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...

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 (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

, 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 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

. 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 (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 ...

is the St. Paul's Cathedral in

Kenema Based on the 2021 national mid-term census, Kenema has a population of 255,110. making it the second most populous city in Sierra Leone after Freetown, and the largest city in the country's Eastern Province, Sierra Leone, Eastern Province. Kenema ...

The Episcopal Diocese of Makeni

The Diocese of Makeni is a

in the

. The

is the Our Lady of Fatima Cathedral in Makeni. * 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 BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

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