KETA, Diocese of. - In British Togo, suffragan of the archdiocese of Cape Coast (formerly the apostolic vicariate of the Gold Coast), entrusted to the Society for African Missions. Area: approx. 40,000 sq km.
The territory of British Togo was detached from the apostolic vicariates of the Gold Coast and of Togo (today Lomé [v.]) and erected into an apostolic vicariate under the name of Lower Volta on 15 March 1923. On 18 April 1950, on the occasion of the erection of the episcopal hierarchy in British West Africa, it was elevated to a diocese under the name of K. (Ketaensis), from the name of the city where the Ordinary resides.
It has a population of approx. 569,000 inhabitants; 75,554 Catholics; 2,383 catechumens; 69,000 Protestants; 14,000 Muslims; approx. 408,000 pagans; 1 native priest; 28 foreign priests; 2 foreign lay brothers; 3 native sisters and 15 foreign; 267 catechists; 285 teachers; 2 major and 4 minor seminarians; 13 principal mission stations and 215 secondary; 33 churches and 166 chapels; 2 dispensaries with 76,512 consultations a year; 11 orphanages with 319 orphans of both sexes; 153 elementary schools with 9,787 male pupils and 2,390 female pupils; 28 middle schools with 2,860 male pupils and 435 female pupils; 2 vocational schools with 46 male pupils, 1 normal school with 51 male pupils. In the last year there were 2,634 baptisms of adults. There are lay religious confraternities and flourishing associations of Catholic Action.
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Carlo Corvo