LYDENBURG, DIOSCESE OF. — In the eastern part of the Transvaal. Erected on 12 June 1923 as an Apostolic Prefecture with territory taken from the then Vicariate of the Transvaal (now the Archdiocese of Pretoria and the Diocese of Johannesburg), and entrusted to the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. It was elevated to an Apostolic Vicariate on 9 December 1948, and to a diocese on 11 January 1951 with the establishment of the ecclesiastical hierarchy in the Union of South Africa.
It has an area of 79,393 sq. km., with a population of 795,000, of whom 7,650 are Catholics. It comprises 14 parishes and 18 churches, with primary and secondary stations, served by 30 regular priests, assisted by 2 male and 5 female religious communities; 38 schools (2 of which are vocational) and 7 charitable and welfare institutions, including 3 hospitals and two orphanages (Ann. Pont., 1951, p. 679).