BUEA, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE of. - Formerly a prefecture (from 1923) and, since 1939, an apostolic vicariate, this mission comprises all and only the Cameroon under British mandate. The fathers of the Society of St. Joseph of Mill Hill work there. In 1936 the first English Poor Clares opened a cloister in the mission.
At present there are 55 fathers and 16 sisters (Franciscan tertiaries of Bressanone) and missionary sisters of St. Joseph. The area of the mission is 81,600 sq. km., with a population of 415,000 inhabitants, the great majority pagans. The latest report, for 1947, records 44,392 Catholics and 7,076 catechumens (the Protestants number 30-35,000). In the 103 elementary schools, 7,097 boys and 1,103 girls are educated; in the sole secondary school there are 130 pupils. There are 18 principal stations and 295 secondary ones. There are two hospitals with 50 beds, two orphanages with 44 children, and various dispensaries.