LAGOS, ARCHDIOCESE OF. — From 1842 to 1860 the territory of the Bight of Benin was under the jurisdiction of the Apostolic Vicar of the Two Guineas. In 1860 the Fathers of the Society of African Missions began the evangelization of the Bight of Benin and achieved notable results. On 28 Aug. 1860 the territory was erected into the Apostolic Vicariate of Dahomey, detached from the Vicariate of the Two Guineas and entrusted to the said Society. On 24 Aug. 1870 the Apostolic Vicariate of Dahomey was renamed the Bight of Benin, which extended from the Niger River to the Volta River. In 1883 the Apostolic Prefecture of Dahomey was divided off, now partly the Apostolic Vicariate of Ouidah, comprising the territory east of the Okpara River. After various boundary adjustments in 1894, 1901, and 1926, it took the name of L. on 12 Jan. 1943, and on 18 Apr. 1950 it was raised to the status of an archdiocese. It has an area of 33,000 sq. km and a population of 2,650,000, including large numbers of Protestants and Muslims.
The work is distributed among 15 primary stations and 220 secondary stations. There are 56,308 Catholics and 5,272 catechumens, served by 62 priests, 10 indigenous priests, and 150 catechists. Instruction and charitable works for women are handled by 45 European religious and 5 indigenous sisters. The mission has a small seminary with 12 students, and 3 students of philosophy and theology; 3 normal schools with 285 pupils, 3 high schools with 520 pupils, 17 middle schools with 2,796 pupils, and 110 elementary schools with 15,578 pupils. There is also 1 hospital with 60 beds, 9 orphanages with 214 children, 1 home for the elderly with 14 residents, and 1 leper colony with 24 patients. The mission publishes a newspaper, the Nigerian Catholic Herald, in English.