BAHR el-ĠAZAL, VICARIATO APOSTOLICO of. — A vicariate since 1917, a prefecture since 1913 through the division of Khartoum (v.), this mission, directed by the Fathers of the African Missions of Verona, today comprises the southern part of Sudan, between the Bahr el-'Arab and the Bahr el-Ġebel, excluding, however, the province of the Upper Nile. Its area is 300,000 sq. km., with a population of 592,000, belonging to various tribes, the principal ones being the Denca, pastoralists, and the Azande (or Niam-Niam), agriculturalists; besides these two predominant races, there are other minor tribes, including the Giur, Belanda, Bongo, Kresh, and Ndogo. The religion is animism in the south and east, and strongly Arabized animism among the north-western tribes. At its creation the mission was considerably larger than it is today, also including the provinces of Mongalla, the Upper Nile, and northern Uganda.
The first missionary activity took place in the two centers of Wau in the north and Gulu in the south; the former was very reluctant, indeed hostile, given the Muslim predominance (that station was burned twice), while the latter was more receptive. But at Wau the mission’s perseverance and enterprise, especially in the educational sector, overcame the resistance of the environment, and in the south the apostolate developed in a consoling manner. Around the central residence (Wau), the station at Kayango evangelizes the Golo and Ndago; that at Kajok the Denca; those at Demziber and Ring the Kresh; the one at Mbili seeks to win over the difficult Giur; and that at Yubu-Camp the Azande; for the Madi, farther east, Polaro was opened, and among the Belanda a village of freedom (Raffili) was founded for freed slaves. In 1930 a normal school was opened at Yubu for the training of catechists of all races.
In the south and south-east, in the more properly Nilotic region of northern Uganda, the apostolate achieved easier and more rapid results; the center of expansion was the station at Gulu, among the Acioli, where a school of arts and trades and subsequently a normal school for catechists (1919) were opened. Other stations in this sector, often opened amid strong Protestant opposition, were those at Ngal among the Aluro, Kitgum among the Acioli and Baganda, Moyo among the Madi, Arna among the Loguara, Torit among the Letuko, and Rejaf among the Bari. In 1922 this entire area, much more promising than that in the north, was detached from the vicariate to form the new prefecture (now vicariate) of Equatorial Nile (v.). In 1932 the mission began publishing a small newspaper (The Messenger) for Catholic civil employees in the three provinces of southern Sudan and for the elementary-school teachers at the mission stations; in 1934 the seminary was opened.
At present (1948, the date of the latest report) the vicariate has 40 Fathers, plus 3 indigenous priests, 20 brothers, and 41 sisters (the Pious Mothers of the Nigrizia, since 1919); the mission employs 402 catechists, both men and women, and 275 male and female teachers. There are 103 elementary schools with 5,934 pupils, 1 secondary school with 118 pupils, and 5 vocational schools with 98 apprentices. The charitable institutions consist of 13 clinics, 6 orphanages, 2 homes for the elderly, and 3 small leprosariums. There are 38,387 Catholics.