The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bangassou ( la, Bangassuen(sis)) is a suffragan diocese in 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 ...

Bangui Bangui () (or Bangî in Sango, formerly written Bangi in English) is the capital and largest city of the Central African Republic. It was established as a French outpost in 1889 and named after its location on the northern bank of the Ubangi ...

, which covers all and only the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

, yet dependent on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. Its

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

episcopal see is Cathédrale Saint Pierre Claver, dedicated to Jesuit Saint Peter Claver, in Bangassou, administrative Mbomou prefecture.

History

* Established on 14 June 1954 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 Bangassou, on territory split off from the Apostolic Vicariate of Bangui, its future Metropolitan * 10 February 1964: Promoted as Diocese of Bangassou * Lost territory on 2004.12.18 to establish Diocese of Alindao.

Statistics

As per 2015 it pastorally served 86,000 Catholics (19.2% of 448,000 total) on 134,284 km² in 12 parishes with 29 priests (23 diocesan, 6 religious), 34 lay religious (8 brothers, 26 sisters) and 16 seminarians.

Bishops

Ordinaries

(all Roman rite, so far European members of Latin congregations) ;''Apostolic Prefect of Bangassou'' * Father Martin Bodewes, Holy Ghost Fathers (C.S.Sp.) (1955 – death 1964) ;''Suffragan Bishops of Bangassou'' * Antoine Marie Maanicus, C.S.Sp. (born Netherlands) (1964.02.10 – 2000.12.21) * Juan-José Aguirre Muñoz, Comboni Missionaries (M.C.C.I. = M.C.C.J.) (born Spain) (2000.12.21 - ...), succeeded as former Coadjutor Bishop of Bangassou (1997.12.13 – 2000.12.21) ** Auxiliary Bishop : Jesús Ruiz Molina, M.C.C.J. (born Spain) (2017.07.11 – 2021.03.10),

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 ...

of Aræ in Mauretania (2017.07.11 – 2021.03.10), Appointed, Bishop of Mbaïki.

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

* Cyr-Nestor Yapaupa (priest here, 2001–2004), appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Alindao in 2012

Sources and external links