GIMMA, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF. — It is situated in southwestern Ethiopia on the border with Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. It originated from the Apostolic Prefecture of Kaffa, which was erected on 28 January 1913 from part of the territory then belonging to the Apostolic Vicariate of the Galla (now of Harar), and was called the Southern Kaffa Prefecture and entrusted to the Consolata Missionary Institute.
On 8 September 1913, after a border adjustment with the Apostolic Vicariate of the Galla, it was simply renamed the Apostolic Prefecture of Kaffa. On 25 March 1937, in the reorganization of the missions in Ethiopia, it was elevated to an Apostolic Vicariate with new boundaries and the name GIMMA, taken from the residence of the Ordinary. On 13 February 1940, the Apostolic Prefectures of Endeber and Hosanna were detached from it, and the Vicariate of Gimma remained with an area of 350,000 sq. km.
The Missionaries of the Consolata had established a methodical and fruitful evangelizing work there, so that by 1939 the vicariate already counted—out of a population of 4,500,000, of which 900,000 were dissident Copts, about as many Muslims, and 2,650,000 pagans—23,560 Catholics with 5,700 catechumens, 2,965 adult baptisms in a single year, 86 priests and 20 foreign brothers, 78 foreign sisters, a minor seminary with 12 students and a major seminary with 2; 42 main stations, 11 secondary stations, 10 churches, 27 chapels, about sixty schools of various levels. But the war, which necessitated the exodus of the Italian missionaries, has largely dispersed the fruits achieved. At present, it is barely known that some Christian communities (and perhaps even some schools) survive. In 1949 there were 8 indigenous priests, 27 sisters; 5 primary stations, 1 secondary; 5 churches, 1 chapel; 4 dispensaries.
