Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Benin City

Archdiocese of Benin City Archidioecesis Urbis Beninensis
Location
Country	Nigeria
Territory	Edo State
Coordinates	6°20′27.5111″N5°37′31.6146″E / 6.340975306°N 5.625448500°E / 6.340975306; 5.625448500
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Latin Rite
Cathedral	Holy Cross Cathedral, Benin City
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Archbishop	Most Rev. Augustine Obiora Akubeze
Suffragans	Auchi, Bomadi, Issele-Uku, Uromi, Warri
Bishops emeritus	Richard Anthony Burke, S.P.S.
Map
Edo State map shown in red
Website
archdiocese of benin city

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Benin City is the Metropolitan See for the ecclesiastical province of Benin City in Nigeria.

History

• 1884.05.02: Established as Apostolic Prefecture of Upper Niger from the Apostolic Vicariate of Two Guineas in Gabon
• 1911.08.24: Renamed as Apostolic Prefecture of Western Nigeria
• 1918.08.24: Promoted as Apostolic Vicariate of Western Nigeria
• 1943.01.12: Renamed as Apostolic Vicariate of Asaba-Benin
• 1950.04.18: Promoted as Diocese of Benin City
• 1994.03.26: Promoted as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Benin City

Special churches

The seat of the archbishop is Holy Cross Cathedral in Benin City.

Bishops

• Prefect Apostolic of Western Nigeria (Roman rite)
  • Fr. Carlo Zappa, S.M.A. 1911 – 1917
• Vicars Apostolic of Western Nigeria (Roman rite)
  • Bishop Thomas Broderick, S.M.A. 1918.08.24 – 1933.10.13
  • Bishop Leo Hale Taylor, S.M.A. 1934.02.26 – 1939.06.13, appointed Vicar Apostolic of Costa di Benin; future Archbishop
• Vicar Apostolic of Asaba-Benin (Roman rite)
  • Bishop Patrick Joseph Kelly, S.M.A. 1939.12.11 – 1950.04.18 see below
• Bishops of Benin City (Roman rite)
  • Bishop Patrick Joseph Kelly, S.M.A. see above 1950.04.18 – 1973.07.05
  • Bishop Patrick Ebosele Ekpu 1973.07.05 – 1994.03.26 see below
• Metropolitan Archbishops of Benin City (Roman rite)
  • Archbishop Patrick Ebosele Ekpu see above 1994.03.26 – 2006.11.21
  • Archbishop Richard Anthony Burke, S.P.S 2007.12.24 - 2010.05.31
  • Archbishop Augustine Obiora Akubeze (since March 18, 2011)

Coadjutor Bishop

• Patrick Ebosele Ekpu (1971-1973)

Another priest of this diocese who became bishop

• Gabriel Ghiakhomo Dunia, appointed Bishop of Auchi in 2002

Suffragan Dioceses

• Auchi
• Bomadi
• Issele-Uku
• Uromi
• Warri

See also

• Roman Catholicism in Nigeria

Sources

• Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria ^[usurped]
• Official website of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Benin City Archived 2019-06-16 at the Wayback Machine
• GCatholic.org
• Catholic Hierarchy
• Fides News Agency Acta of the Holy See
• Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria page for Benin City ^[usurped]