MOGADISCIO, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE of. — It comprises the whole of Italian Somalia (now a trust territory); it lies on the coast of the Indian Ocean south of the Gulf of Aden.
It is a vast semidesert territory (area approx. 600,000 sq. km). It was subject to the Apostolic Vicariate of Zanguebar, and subsequently to that of Northern Zanguebar (v. ZANZIBAR), from which, on 21 January 1904, the Apostolic Prefecture of Benadir (then the name of the Italian colony now called Somalia) was detached. It was entrusted to the Trinitarians of the Roman province, with whom the evangelization of the territory effectively began.
In 1924 the Trinitarians were replaced by the Missionaries of the Consolata, and on 15 December 1927 the prefecture was raised to an apostolic vicariate under the name of M., whose territory was subsequently enlarged on 24 May 1929, when its boundaries were modified in relation to the Vicariate of Zanzibar.
In 1930 the Vicariate of M. passed to the Friars Minor of the province of Milan, and on 25 March 1937, when all the missions of Ethiopia were reorganized, its territory was enlarged by the addition of part of southern Ethiopia. At present, however, although that portion of territory also belongs to it canonically, owing to political conditions the jurisdiction of the Ordinary is in fact exercised only over the territory of Italian Somalia. The population of the vicariate is estimated approximately (1950) at 1,100,000 inhabitants, overwhelmingly Muslim (more than 1,000,000). There are: 8,715 Catholics, of whom 8,500 are foreigners, 95 indigenous, and 120 of mixed descent, with 50 catechumens; 75 Eastern dissidents, 30 Protestants, and 20 Jews; 22 priests, 4 brothers, and 83 sisters, all foreigners; 4 male catechists and 6 female catechists; 5 male teachers; 27 female teachers; 10 principal mission stations and 7 secondary ones; 2 churches; 16 chapels; 8 hospitals; 5 orphanages; 12 elementary schools; 4 vocational schools; a printing workshop with 2 periodicals. There are charitable associations and associations of Catholic Action. The number of adult baptisms in 1950 was 50. — Vedi tav. LXXXIII.