The Roman Catholic Diocese of Mogadishu ( la, Mogadiscen(sis)) is a

diocese 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 associa ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

located in the city of

Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Oc ...

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

. The area of the diocese coincides with that of the country. It is the only diocese in Somalia. The see has been vacant since the assassination of the last bishop, Salvatore Colombo, in 1989. The diocese is a member of the

Conference of the Latin Bishops of the Arab Regions The Conference of the Latin Bishops of the Arabic Regions (CELRA) (French: Conférence des Evêques Latins dans les Régions Arabes) is an episcopal conference of the Catholic Church which gathers the Latin Church bishops in the Arab States of the ...

History

In the pre-independence period, British Somaliland was under the care of the Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia, like the Apostolic Vicariate of the Galla (including French Somaliland as well as its

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

n main territory) confided to the Order of Friars ''Cappuccini''.

Italian Somaliland Italian Somalia ( it, Somalia Italiana; ar, الصومال الإيطالي, Al-Sumal Al-Italiy; so, Dhulka Talyaaniga ee Soomaalida), was a protectorate and later colony of the Kingdom of Italy in present-day Somalia. Ruled in the 19th centu ...

was from 1904 the "Prefecture Apostolic of Benadir", and entrusted to the ancient

Trinitarian Order The Trinitarians, formally known as the Order of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Captives ( la, Ordo Sanctissimae Trinitatis et Captivorum; abbreviated OSsT), is a mendicant order of the Catholic Church for men founded in Cerfroid, outside Pari ...

. In 1927, it was promoted to Apostolic Vicariate. * 1904: Established as Apostolic Prefecture of Benadir * 1927: Promoted as Apostolic Vicariate of Mogadishu * 1975: Promoted as Diocese of Mogadishu

Bishops

Prefects Apostolic of Benadir

# Alessandro dei Santi, OSST (1905–1924) #* Bishop , IMC ( ''Apostolic administrator'' 1924 – 22 December 1927)

Vicars Apostolic of Mogadishu

# , IMC (22 December 1927 – August 1930) # , OFM (14 July 1931 – 24 May 1932) # , OFM (23 May 1933 – 19 October 1970) # , OFM (19 October 1970 – 1 January 1973)

Bishops of Mogadishu

# Salvatore Colombo, OFM (20 November 1975 – 9 July 1989) #* Bishop Giorgio Bertin, OFM (''Apostolic administrator'' 29 April 1990 – present)

Sources