MBEYA, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF. - Located in the southwestern part of the territory of Tanganyika, it is entrusted to the Society of Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers). It originated in 1932 when, on July 18, the southern part of the then apostolic vicariate of Tanganika (now of Kigoma and Karema), was erected as a mission sui iuris under the name of Tukuyu. It became an apostolic prefecture on March 29, 1938. On July 14, 1949 it was elevated to an apostolic vicariate under the name of M., which underwent a modification of boundaries with the vicariate of Karema (Feb. 2, 1950), to which it ceded a territory of a few hundred sq km in that part of the Unyamvanga region which extends southwest beyond the chain of mountains delimiting the region itself for a certain stretch.
At present M. has about 70,000 sq km of surface area with over 308,000 inhabitants. The northern part, infested by the tse-tse fly, is sparsely populated, while in the southern part the population is dense: the main tribes "Wanyakyusa" and "Wasafiya" number respectively 150,000 and 45,000 souls. Catholics number 20,517; catechumens 3,869. Protestants, who have been established in the territory for over 50 years, number about 35,000, almost exclusively of the "Wanyakyusa" tribe; Muslims number 4,970. There are furthermore 3 native priests, 19 foreign priests; 2 foreign lay brothers; 4 foreign sisters, who have charge of a government leprosarium where about 800 lepers are sheltered; 7 major seminarians; 20 minor seminarians; 1 preparatory seminary; 138 catechists; 12 teachers; 8 principal mission stations and 135 secondary ones; 7 dispensaries; 7 elementary schools; 1 normal school; 184 prayer stations. In 1950 there were 137 baptisms of adults; 373 of the faithful are members of Catholic Action.
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Carlo Corvo