MWANZA, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE of. — It is situated in the northern part of the territory of Tanganyika, south of Lake Victoria; it comprises the districts of M. (except the divisions of Nassa and Masanza), Kwimba, Shinyanga, and the islands of Ukara and Ukerewe, as well as the mainland portion of the latter district. It is entrusted to the Society of the Missionaries of Africa ([v.] Padri Bianchi), to which the region of the great lakes was assigned on 14 February 1878.
In 1879 those missionaries arrived there and began to spread the work of evangelization despite difficulties of every kind. On 27 September 1880 the pro-vicariate of Nyanza was erected; it comprised a vast territory (Uganda and parts of Kenya, Tanganyika, and the Belgian Congo) and on 31 May 1883 was raised to an apostolic vicariate under the name of Victoria Nyanza (after the territories of the Belgian Congo and others to the north toward the Sudan and Kaffa had already been detached from it), and on 13 July 1894 was divided into the three apostolic vicariates of Upper Nile, Northern Victoria Nyanza, and Southern Victoria Nyanza. The latter, after several boundary modifications and reductions of territory, took (15 January 1915) the name of Victoria Nyanza which, after being subjected once again to further boundary modifications and reductions of territory, finally received the new name of M. when (10 April 1929) the apostolic vicariate of Bukoba ([v.]) was separated from II. It was divided for the last time on 11 April 1946, when its eastern and northern part was erected as the apostolic vicariate of Musoma Maswa (now the apostolic vicariate of Maswa [v.], because on 24 June 1950 Musoma ([v.]) was constituted an apostolic prefecture). By a decree of the same date, a boundary adjustment with the apostolic vicariate of Maswa was also made. The oldest mission station currently existing in the apostolic vicariate of M. is that of Bukumbi, whose foundation dates to 1883.
The apostolic vicariate of M. currently has an area of 29,330 sq. km., with a population, according to the calculations made in 1948, of 818,600 inhabitants. The statistics for 1950 give 29,327 indigenous Catholics, together with 94 foreigners and 14 of mixed ancestry; 11,590 catechumens, 9,850 Protestants, 13,960 Muslims, and approximately 758,100 pagans; 17 indigenous priests, 32 foreign priests, 8 foreign lay brothers, and 19 foreign sisters; 1 minor seminary; 244 catechists, 109 teachers, 1 physician; 6 qualified nurses; 5 quasi-parishes, 13 principal mission stations and 218 secondary ones, 7 churches and 229 chapels, 4 hospitals, and 7 dispensaries; 2 esode: 27 elementary, 1 middle, 2 vocational, and 2 normal; 1 periodical with an annual circulation of 4,700 copies; 18 Catholic Action associations.
In 1950 there were 707 baptisms of adults.