DOUALA, VICARIATO APOSTOLICO of. — An apostolic prefecture from 1931, created by detachment from the sole mission of Cameroon, and elevated to an apostolic vicariate in 1932, this mission comprises the coastal part of the former mission; leaving the Ewondo and related tribes to Yaoundé, it includes within its territory the other tribes, but above all those of the Bassa, to the north, and of the Bulus, to the south.
Several of the stations of D. owe their foundation to the Pallottines, as does D. itself, followed by Eden (1890), Kribi (1891), and Ngowayang (1908). The area is 71,000 sq. km., and the population approximately 400,000, of whom 120,000 are pagans, 5,277 Muslims, and 108,959 Protestants. The two great obstacles were, and in part still are, polygamy and Protestantism, with which, especially after the war, the Catholic missionaries competed in enterprise to gain ground through the catechists. In general, Protestantism, which has also organized itself on a local basis under an independent indigenous “bishop,” is now in decline.
The fathers (Congregation of the Holy Spirit) number 26, and the indigenous secular priests 21; there are 5 brothers and 29 sisters, 11 of them indigenous. The catechists number 1,270. The mission has (1948) 137,916 Catholics and 33,493 catechumens, distributed among 24 principal and 14 secondary stations. There are 75 elementary schools with 7,750 pupils; 50 middle schools with 7,290 pupils; 30 secondary schools with 4,989 pupils; 1 vocational school with 25 pupils; and one normal school with 72 pupils. Among the charitable institutions is a leprosarium with 330 patients. The minor seminary has 19 pupils; several other seminarians are studying outside the mission.
Two small monthly newspapers maintain fervor among the Catholics of the mission.