IPAMU, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF. — It is located in the central-western part of the Belgian Congo and is entrusted to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. On April 13, 1937, with parts of territory detached from the Apostolic Vicariates of Koango and Upper Kassai (now Luluabourg), the Apostolic Prefecture of I. was erected, which on February 12, 1948, was elevated to an Apostolic Vicariate.
It has an area of 42,000 sq. km. and a population of over 360,000. In 1949 it had 51,779 indigenous Catholics, 170 foreign Catholics, 8,554 catechumens, 5,000 Protestants, nearly 300,000 pagans, 45 missionaries, 4 lay brothers and 22 sisters, all foreigners, 7 major seminaries, 7 minor seminaries with 45 students, 747 catechists, 8 female catechists, 8 nurses, 12 main stations, 72 secondary stations, 12 churches, 472 chapels, 6 dispensaries with 408,902 annual consultations, a leper hospital with 60 patients, numerous welfare works for maternity and childhood, 600 elementary schools with 17,440 male and 4,637 female students, a normal school with 80 students, and a periodical printed in 100 copies. The percentage of practicing Catholics is high.