The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kaduna is the Metropolitan See for the

Ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of seve ...

Kaduna Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade Centre and a major transportation hub as the gateway to northern Nige ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

History

* 1911.08.24: The Apostolic Prefecture of Eastern Nigeria was created from the

Apostolic Prefecture of Upper Niger The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mali, ...

and it had Shendam as its headquarters. Kano, afterwards a principal mission station under Kaduna, was opened from Shendam but Kaduna itself was administered from Asaba (headquarters of the Prefecture of Upper Niger which subsequently became the Vicariate Apostolic of Western Nigeria. * 1929.07.18: Renamed as Apostolic Prefecture of Northern Nigeria * 1934.04.09: Renamed as Apostolic Prefecture of Kaduna * 1953.06.29: Promoted as Diocese of Kaduna * 1959.07.16: Promoted as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kaduna

Special churches

The seat of the archbishop is St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Kaduna.

Bishops

* Prefect Apostolic of Eastern Nigeria (Roman rite) ** Osvaldo Waller, S.M.A. 1912 – 1929 * Prefects Apostolic of Northern Nigeria (Roman rite) ** Francis O' Rourke, S.M.A. 1929.05.17 - 1930.03.27, appointed (titular bishop and) Vicar Apostolic of Costa di Benin ** William Thomas Porter, S.M.A. 1930.04.08 – 1933.04.25, appointed (titular bishop and) Vicar Apostolic of Costa d’Oro , Ghana; future Archbishop ** Thomas Hughes, S.M.A. 1934.04.09 – 1943.01.12, appointed (titular bishop and) Vicar Apostolic of Ondo-Ilorin ** John MacCarthy, S.M.A. 1943.05.14 – 1953.06.29 ''see below'' * Bishop of Kaduna (Roman rite) ** Bishop John MacCarthy, S.M.A. ''see above'' 1953.06.29 – 1959.07.16 ''see below'' * Archbishops of Kaduna (Roman rite) ** Archbishop John MacCarthy, S.M.A. ''see above'' 1959.07.16 – 1975.06.12 ** Archbishop Peter Yariyok Jatau 1975.04.10 - 2007.11.16 ** Archbishop

Matthew Man-oso Ndagoso Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chi ...

, appointed 2007.11.16

Coadjutor Archbishop

* Peter Yariyok Jatau (1972-1975)

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

* Joseph Danlami Bagobiri, appointed Bishop of Kafanchan in 1995 *

Matthew Hassan Kukah Matthew Hassan Kukah (born 31 August 1952) is the current bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sokoto. In December 2020, Pope Francis appointed him as a member of the Dicastery on Integral Human Development. Early life and education Bishop ...

, appointed Bishop of Sokoto in 2011 * Julius Yakubu Kundi, appointed Bishop of Kafanchan in 2000

Suffragan Dioceses

Kafanchan Kafanchan ('' Fantswam'': A̠byin Fantswam; '' Nikyob'': Manɡyanɡ) is a town located in the southern part of Kaduna State, Nigeria, which owes much of its development to the railway development in the area, being situated at a particular jun ...

Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria * Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State **Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries **Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...

Kontagora Kontagora is a major town on the south bank of the Kontagora River in north-west Niger State, Nigeria. It is the capital city of the Kontagora Emirate. The current Niger state governor, Alh. Abubakar Sani Bello hails from Kontagora. On December 1 ...

Minna Minna is a city in Middle Belt Nigeria. It is the capital city of Niger State, one of Nigeria's 36 federal states. It consists of two major ethnic groups: the Gbagyi and the Nupe. History Archaeological evidence suggests settlement in th ...

Sokoto Sokoto is a major city located in extreme northwestern Nigeria, near the confluence of the Sokoto River and the Rima River. As of 2006 it has a population of over 427,760. Sokoto is the modern-day capital of Sokoto State and was previously the ...

Zaria Zaria is a List of Nigerian cities by population, metropolitan city in Nigeria which at the present time lies within four (4) local government areas in Kaduna State, Kaduna state; it happens to be the capital city to the Zazzau, Zazzau Emirate ...

Persecution and insecurity

The Archdiocese of Kaduna has had several incidents of persecution, including kidnappings and murder of priests. In 2022 three priests were kidnapped at the same time, one of whom, Fr Joseph Batko, was killed. The other two, Fr Vitus Borogo and Fr Abraham Kunat were eventually released. A fourth priest, Fr John Bako Shekwolo has been missing since March 2019. Reacting to the general atmosphere of insecurity in the country, Kaduna bishop Matthew Manoso Ndagoso, said: “The political will is not there to address the issues of security in this country. The Nigerian security forces have proven they are capable, our military can do this, so that this is happening in our country shows that something has gone wrong. We have nobody else to blame but the Government. They tell us they are on top of the situation, but we think the situation is on top of them." Regarding the murders and kidnappings of priests in Nigeria, the same bishop said, in another interview, "everybody is on edge. All of us, the clergy, the laypeople, everybody. People are afraid, and rightly so. People are traumatised, and rightly so. With this situation, nobody is safe anywhere. If you go out of your house, even in the daytime, until you come back, you are not safe”. Speaking to Aid to the Church in Need in July, Bishop Ndagoso decried the insecurity in the following words: "In the last three years, seven of my priests have been kidnapped, two have been killed, and one has been in captivity for three years and two months. Four were released. In fifty of my parishes, priests cannot stay in their rectories, because they are targets, they are seen as an easy source of money for ransom. I cannot go on pastoral visits like I usually do, priests cannot go to villages and say masses. People cannot go to farm, so they cannot feed themselves. With this insecurity people are starved of the sacraments".

References

Sources

GCatholic.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaduna Roman Catholic dioceses in Nigeria Kaduna Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Kaduna