IRINGA, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE di. - It is situated in British East Africa, in the southern part of Tanganyika north of Lake Nyassa, and is entrusted to the Consolata Mission Institute. It derives from the apostolic vicariate of Dar-es-Salaam, from which on 3 March 1922 a portion of territory was detached and erected into an apostolic prefecture under the name of I. On 8 Jan. 1948 it was raised to an apostolic vicariate without any change either of name or boundaries.
The vicariate has an area of approximately 50,000 sq. km. In 1948 it had a population of approximately 310,000 inhabitants, of whom 23,317 were Catholics (23,133 natives, 155 foreigners, 29 of mixed descent), 2,465 catechumens, 30,000 Protestants, 7,200 Mohammedans, approximately 247,000 pagans; 2 native priests, 36 foreign missionaries, 12 foreign lay brothers, 65 native sisters, 54 foreign sisters, 213 catechists, 34 male and 36 female teachers, 10 major seminarians, 1 minor seminary with 22 pupils, 15 principal stations, 3 secondary stations, 7 churches, 10 chapels, 1 hospital with 30 beds, 13 dispensaries with 89,504 consultations during the year, 12 orphanages with 255 boys and girls, 4 homes for the elderly, a leper colony, 5 nursery schools, a maternity home and a school of midwifery, 27 elementary schools with 3,770 and 2 middle schools with 196 pupils of both sexes; two vocational schools with 69 pupils, 182 prayer schools. Catholic Action is taking its first steps in 5 stations. - Vedi tav. XII.