Catholic Church in Nigeria


The Catholic Church in Nigeria is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, the curia in Rome, and the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria. The present president of the CBCN as of 2020 is Augustine Obiora Akubeze, Archbishop of Benin city, who was preceded by the Archbishop of Jos Catholic Diocese, Ignatius Kaigama.
The Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches comprise the world's largest Christian Church, and its largest religious grouping. In 2005, there were an estimated 19 million baptised Catholics in Nigeria. In 2010 the Catholic population accounted for approximately 12.6% of the population.
Nigeria, together with Congo Democratic Republic, boasts of the highest number of priests in Africa. The boom in vocation to the priesthood in Nigeria is mainly in the eastern part which accounts for over 70 percent of the country's Catholic population.
The second papal visit to the country in 1998 witnessed the beatification of Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi. Pope John Paul II proclaimed him blessed at Oba, Onitsha Archdiocese, a local Church established by the apostle of eastern Nigerian, Bishop Joseph Shanahan, CSSp.
The official patron saints of Nigeria are: Mary, Queen of Nigeria and Saint Patrick of Ireland.

List of dioceses

Within Nigeria the hierarchy consists of:
Immediately subject to the Holy See:
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria is the Nigerian episcopal conference.

Catholic traditionalism

A more traditionalist subset of the Catholic Church is also present in Nigeria and embodied by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. There also exists a community of the irregular status Society of St. Pius X.

Catholic universities in Nigeria

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Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate - Website: www.omiworld.org