Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mwanza

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mwanza () is the Metropolitan See for the ecclesiastical province of Mwanza in Tanzania.

History

• 1880: Established as Apostolic Vicariate of Nyanza from the Apostolic Vicariate of Central Africa in Sudan
• 1883: Renamed as Apostolic Vicariate of Victoria–Nyanza
• April 10, 1929: Renamed as Apostolic Vicariate of Mwanza
• March 25, 1953: Promoted as Diocese of Mwanza
• November 18, 1987: Promoted as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Mwanza
• November 27, 2010: Territory lost to Roman Catholic Diocese of Bunda

Special churches

The seat of the archbishop is the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Epiphany in Mwanza.

Bishops

• Vicars Apostolic of Mwanza (Roman rite)
• Bishop Jean-Joseph Hirth, M. Afr. (1894.07.13 - 1912.12.12), appointed Vicar Apostolic of Kivu
• Bishop Joseph Franciskus Marie Sweens, M. Afr. (1912.12.12 - 1928.11.12)
• Bishop Antoon Oomen, M. Afr. (1929.03.18 – 1950)
• Bishop Joseph Blomjous, M. Afr. (1950.06.25 – 1953.03.25 see below)
• Bishops of Mwanza (Roman rite)
• Bishop Joseph Blomjous, M. Afr. (see above 1953.03.25 – 1965.10.15)
• Bishop Renatus Lwamosa Butibubage (1966.01.15 – 1987.11.18)
• Metropolitan Archbishops of Mwanza (Roman rite)
• Archbishop Anthony Mayala (1987.11.18 - 2009.08.20)
• Archbishop Jude Thaddaeus Ruwa'ichi, O.F.M.Cap. (2010.11.10 - 2018.06.21), appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Dar-es-Salaam
• Archbishop Renatus Leonard Nkwande (2019.02.11 - )

Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic

• Joseph Franciskus Marie Sweens, M. Afr. (1910-1912)

Auxiliary Bishop

• Renatus Lwamosa Butibubage (1959-1965), appointed Bishop here

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

• Michael George Mabuga Msonganzila, appointed Bishop of Musoma in 2007
• Renatus Leonard Nkwande, appointed Bishop of Bunda in 2010; later returned here as Archbishop

Suffragan dioceses

• Bukoba
• Bunda
• Geita
• Kayanga
• Musoma
• Rulenge-Ngara
• Shinyanga

See also

• Roman Catholicism in Tanzania

Sources

• GCatholic.org