Roman Catholic Diocese of Maiduguri

Last updated
Diocese of Maiduguri

Dioecesis Maiduguriensis
Location
CountryFlag of Nigeria.svg Nigeria
Territory Borno State
Ecclesiastical province Jos
MetropolitanArchbishop of Jos
Coordinates 11°50′47″N13°09′36″E / 11.84639°N 13.16000°E / 11.84639; 13.16000
Statistics
Area132,000 [1]  km2 (51,000 sq mi)
Population
  • Total
  • Catholics
  • (as of 2021)
  • 202,745 [2]  (3.1%)
Parishes43 [2]
Information
Denomination Catholic Church
Sui iuris church Latin Church
Rite Roman Rite
EstablishedJune 7, 1966;59 years ago (June 7, 1966)
CathedralSaint Patrick's Cathedral in Maiduguri
Secular priests 60 [2]
Current leadership
Pope Leo XIV
Bishop Oliver Dashe Doeme
Auxiliary BishopsJohn Bogna Bakeni
Vicar General
  • Donatus Tizhe (Administration)
  • John William (Pastoral) [3]
Map
Nigeria Borno State map.png
Maiduguri is in Borno State shown in red

The Diocese of Maiduguri (Latin : Dioecesis Maiduguriensis [4] ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church located in the city of Maiduguri in the ecclesiastical province of Jos in Nigeria.

Contents

History

Special churches

The Cathedral is St Patrick's Cathedral in Maiduguri.

Bishops

Other priests of this diocese who became bishop

Persecution and insecurity

Maiduguri was the diocese that suffered most from Boko Haram, having endured close to a decade of fierce persecution. Since 2020, however, the terrorist group has not carried out significant attacks in Maiduguri, a fact that Bishop Oliver Doeme attributes to divine intervention, in response to a Rosary prayer campaign he began after having a vision in which the Virgin Mary handed him a sword which turned into a Rosary. "The war was won on bended knee", he told journalists during a conference organised by Aid to the Church in Need, in July 2022.

In the same conference he explained that his region of Nigeria is now relatively peaceful. "To a large extent we can say that the north-eastern part of the country is more peaceful than other parts, because Nigeria is now in crisis, and we are experiencing a lot of evil forces in our country. You have the Fulani herdsmen attacking Christian communities, you have the bandits attacking communities and taking people away. The church is not spared. In different parts of the north, priests have been killed. So, the crisis may be subsiding in the northeast, but not in other parts of the north and even in the south." [5]

On 1 June 2025 Fr Alphonsuns Afina was kidnapped by members of Boko Haram–Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) [6] , he spent almost two months in the hands of his kidnappers, before being released on 27 July. [7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Diocese of Maiduguri, Nigeria". GCatholic.org. 14 April 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Maiduguri (Diocese)". Annuario Pontificio . 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2023– via Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
  3. ↑ "Maiduguri Diocese". Nigeria Catholic Network. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  4. ↑ "Maiduguri (Diocese)". Catholic-Hierarchy.org . David M. Cheney. 14 April 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  5. ↑ "Nigeria: "We have never experienced what we are experiencing now", says Bishop of Maiduguri". ACN International . 29 July 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  6. ↑ d'Avillez, Filipe (2025-06-05). "Bishop calls for prayers as priest is kidnapped by jihadists in Nigeria". ACN International. Retrieved 2025-08-14.
  7. ↑ Raffray, Nathalie (2025-08-07). ""They beat me, but I thank God I survived," says priest kidnapped by jihadists". ACN International. Retrieved 2025-08-14.


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