DODOMA, APOSTOLIC PREFECTURE OF. — In Tanganyika, it comprises the civil districts of D. and Kondoa-Irangi, in the "Central Province of Tanganyika Territory," under British mandate, and has an area of 55,000 sq. km. It is populated by about 500,000 inhabitants, mainly from the two tribes of the Wagogo and the Kondoa-Irangi, who are cattle herders and farmers (especially millet), of whom 330,000 are pagans, 25,000 Catholics, 22,500 Muslims, and 15,000 Protestants. D. is a pleasant city, seat of the Central Province of Tanganyika and a stopover for the London-Cape air route; it is the residence of a Protestant "bishop," while the Apostolic Prefect has chosen his residence in the more promising center of Kondoa-Irangi.
The prefecture was erected in 1935 Bagamoyo (v.), Kilimanjaro, and Iringa, and entrusted to the Passionists. The new missionaries inherited several stations, some dating back to the pre-war Bavarian Benedictines, which were already well established, and they opened new ones, with primary schools and catechists, as well as several dispensaries (9). In their apostolate, the Passionists (23 fathers and 9 brothers) are assisted by one indigenous priest, 17 sisters (5 of whom are indigenous), and 363 indigenous catechists.
The mission also has 3,267 catechumens and a minor seminary with 57 young aspirants.