Calabar, Apostolic Vicariate of

CALABAR, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF. - In Nigeria, at the estuary of the Cross. The missionary work in the territory of the apostolic vicariate of C. began with the mission station of C., against the negroes, where in 1903 schools were opened, which were immediately successful, despite the precedence and predominance of the Presbyterian mission. At Ogoja the station was founded in 1921 to attempt the first conversion of the Munsci. On 9 July 1934, together with Benne, the zone was erected into the apostolic prefecture of C. with territory from the apostolic vicariate of Southern Nigeria, taking from it the two civil provinces of Ogoja to the east and C. to the south. The progress of the mission, which became more pronounced after its erection into an autonomous prefecture, decided Propaganda to create - only four years later - another prefecture, namely that of Ogoja (v.), detaching the province of the same name from C. It is entrusted to the Irish Society of St. Patrick, whose Fathers had gone to Nigeria from 1920 onward. In 1947 it was elevated to an apostolic vicariate.

It has an area of about 10,139 sq. km. and counts a population of nearly one million (899,503) according to the statistics of 1948, belonging to various Bantu and Sudanese tribes, pagan; the Muslims are few (about a thousand), but the Protestants are powerful (270,000); Catholics number 62,956, catechumens 29,458, with 27 Fathers, of whom one is indigenous, and 41 sisters, of whom 20 are native. Since 1937 Catholics have been greatly developing their health-care activity, with the collaboration of the new Medical Missionary Society of Mary (M.M.M.); school activity is represented by 241 elementary schools with 21,515 pupils, 38 middle schools with 2,125 students, two normal schools with 123 pupils and one for catechists with 41 aspirants.