IRINGA, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF. — It is situated in British East Africa, in the southern part of Tanganyika to the 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 as an Apostolic Prefecture under the name of Iringa. On 8 January 1948 this was elevated to an Apostolic Vicariate without any change either in name or boundaries.
The vicariate has an area of approximately 50,000 sq. km. In the year 1948 it had a population of approximately 310,000 inhabitants, of whom 23,317 are Catholic (23,133 indigenous, 155 foreigners, 29 of mixed race), 2,450 catechumens, 30,000 Protestants, 7,200 Muslims, approximately 247,000 pagans; 2 indigenous priests, 36 foreign missionaries, 12 foreign lay brothers, 65 indigenous sisters, 54 foreign sisters, 213 catechists, 34 male teachers, 36 female teachers, 10 major seminarians, 1 minor seminary with 22 pupils, 15 main stations, 3 secondary stations, 7 churches, 10 chapels, 1 hospital with 30 beds, 13 dispensaries with 89,504 consultations in the year, 12 orphanages with 255 orphans of both sexes, 4 homes for the elderly, a leper colony, 5 infant schools, a maternity hospital and a school of midwifery, 27 elementary schools with 3,770 pupils and 2 middle schools with 106 pupils of both sexes; two professional schools with 69 pupils, 182 prayer schools. Catholic Action is in its early stages in 5 stations. — See pl. XII.