Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri

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Archdiocese of Owerri Archidioecesis Overriensis
Assumpta Cathedral
Location
Country	Nigeria
Territory	Imo State
Ecclesiastical province	Owerri
Coordinates	5°29′06″N 7°02′06″E / 5.48500°N 7.03500°E / 5.48500; 7.03500
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Cathedral	Assumpta Cathedral, Owerri
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Archbishop	Most Rev.
Suffragans	Aba, Ahiara, Okigwe, Orlu, Umuahia
Auxiliary Bishops
Map
Imo State shown in red
Website
owarch.org.ng

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri (Latin: Archidioecesis Overriensis) is located in Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria.

The Seat of Wisdom Seminary is in Owerri.

The archdiocese covers an area of 2,996 km². 670,986 of the 1.7 million people in the area are member of the Catholic Church.

History[]

The diocese dates back to the Vicariate Apostolic of Owerri, which was created on February 12, 1948 when the Vicariate Apostolic of Onitsha-Owerri was split. On April 18, 1950 it was elevated to a diocese. On March 26, 1994 it became an Archdiocese.

On 27 December 2020, auxiliary bishop and his driver were kidnapped by gunmen in Owerri. They were both released unharmed and without ransom, on 1 January 2021.^[1]

Special churches[]

The seat of the Archbishop is Assumpta Cathedral in Owerri.

Bishops[]

Ordinaries[]

• Vicar Apostolic of Owerri (Latin Church)
  • Joseph Brendan Whelan, C.S.Sp. 12 Feb 1948 – 18 Apr 1950; see below
• Bishops of Owerri (Roman rite)
  • Joseph Brendan Whelan, C.S.Sp. 18 Apr 1950 – 25 Jun 1970; see above
  • 25 Jun 1970 – 1 Jul 1993
  • Anthony J.V. Obinna 1 Jul 1993 –1993 died Mar 1994; see below
• Metropolitan Archbishops of Owerri (Roman rite)
  • Anthony John Valentine Obinna since 26 Mar 1994; see above

Auxiliary bishop[]

• (2019-)

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop[]

• , appointed Bishop of Aba in 2019

Suffragan Dioceses[]

• Aba
• Ahiara
• Okigwe
• Orlu
• Umuahia

See also[]

• Roman Catholicism in Nigeria

References[]

External links[]

• Official website of the Archdiocese of Owerri, Nigeria
• Catholic Hierarchy
• Diocese information at the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria
• GCatholic.org Information
• Seat of Wisdom Seminary
• Seat of Wisdom Seminary