FORT VICTORIA, VICARIATO APOSTOLICO di. – It was erected on 14 November 1946 with territory detached from the Apostolic Vicariate of Salisbury in Southern Rhodesia and entrusted to the Society of the Foreign Missions of Bethlehem (Switzerland). The Fathers of the aforesaid society had gone there as early as 1939 to begin missionary work.
The area is approximately 87,685 sq. km., with a population of approximately 600,000 inhabitants, of whom about half a million are natives. The Catholic population is 24,834. The catechumens number 6,102. There are 40,000 Protestants and approximately 550,000 pagans. The primary stations number 10 and the secondary stations 22. There are 195 catechists; 44 elementary schools with 9,338 pupils; 10 vocational schools with 202 pupils; and 2 normal schools with 62 pupils.
There are 28 Fathers, 4 brothers, and 42 sisters, 16 of whom are indigenous. There are 4 hospitals with 48 beds, 6 dispensaries, and 4 orphanages with 41 children. The work of evangelization is still in its early stages and, despite the fierce opposition of the Protestant sects, the Catholic Church enjoys the esteem of the indigenous population. Indeed, the movement of conversion is in full development.