FREETOWN AND BO. DIOCESE di. — Diocese of British West Africa, comprising the territory of the Colony of Sierra Leone on the Atlantic coast, between French Guinea and Liberia. On 13 April 1858, the S. Congregation de Propaganda Fide, detaching the Colony of Sierra Leone and the adjacent territories from the then Apostolic Vicariate of the Two Guineas, erected the Apostolic Vicariate of Sierra Leone and entrusted it to the Society of African Missions; but its founder, mona, de Brasilia, and three of his missionaries, who had accompanied him there, died there of yellow fever.
In 1860 they were replaced by the Fathers of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, who, overcoming great difficulties, were able to establish themselves. In 1897, the Apostolic Prefecture of French Guinea (today the Apostolic Vicariate of Konakry and the Apostolic Prefecture of Kankan) was partly detached from it, and in 1903 that of Liberia (today the Apostolic Vicariate of Monrovia and the Apostolic Prefecture of Cape Palmas). On 18 April 1930, on the occasion of the erection of the episcopal hierarchy in British West Africa, the Apostolic Vicariate of Sierra Leone was elevated to a residential diocese immediately subject to the Holy See, under the name of F. and B., from the name of the center where the Ordinary resides (F.) and of the nearby political and commercial center (B.) of the entire territory. The statistics for 1949 present the following data: area 80,000 sq. km.; inhabitants 2,250,000; Catholics 10,105, of whom 9,492 indigenous, 431 foreign, and 182 of mixed descent; catechumens 9,862, Eastern dissidents 311; Protestants 55,000; Muslims 126,000; pagans 2,000,599; missionary priests: 31 of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit and 4 of the Pia Society of St. Francis Xavier for the Foreign Missions of Parma; brothers 2 of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit; foreign sisters 26; catechists 94, women catechists 3; male teachers 96, female teachers 60. Principal stations 12, secondary stations 25; dispensaries 3, with 21,000 consultations during the year. Schools 40 with 5,638 pupils of both sexes; prayer schools 112 with 1,768 pupils of both sexes; adult baptisms 204, children’s baptisms 239; Easter Communions 3,840; devotional Communions 124,000. Catholic Action is present (Legion of Mary).
Bust.: MC, p. 376; Ar-Ao, S. C. de Prop. Fide, Prospectus status missionis, pos. prot. n. 319/149. Carlo Corvo