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TheCatholic Church inTogo is part of the worldwideCatholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of thePope inRome.
There are approximately 1,483,000 million Catholics representing approximately 25 percent of the total population of 5,968,000. There are sevendioceses, including onearchdiocese:[1]
The history of the Catholic Church in Togo began with theevangelization carried out by the missionaries of theSociety of African Missions ofLyon starting in 1882; four years later the Togo mission was founded, but its founder, the priest Jeremiah Moran, was poisoned in 1886.
In 1892 the mission was entrusted to theMissionaries of the Divine Word, and made anapostolic vicariate in 1914. Because of theFirst World War, the Verbites, all Germans, were first interned and then expelled from the country. So evangelism passed again, in 1921, to the Fathers of the African missions: in 1930 there was thepriestly ordination of the first Togolese.
On 15 September 1955 the ecclesiastical hierarchy was established and the country was divided intodioceses. The TogoleseCaritas (Caritas togolaise) was founded in 1967. In 1987, it merged with the Development Coordination Office (Bureau de coordination pour le développement) to become theCharity Organisation for Integral Development - Caritas Togo. Caritas Togo is the official aid organisation of the Catholic Church in Togo.[2]
In 1985, the Togolese Catholic Church received a pastoral visit fromPope John Paul II.
On 8 April 2014, theCongregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments confirmed Saint John Paul II as thepatron saint of Togo.
The apostolic delegation of Togo and Guinea was established on 21 May 1973 with the briefQui benignissima ofPope Paul VI; it was based in the city ofAbidjan in theIvory Coast. In 1982, with the establishment of diplomatic relations between theHoly See and the Togo, the apostolic nunciature of Togo was created. The seat of the nuncio is the city ofCotonou inBenin.
The local episcopate constitutes theEpiscopal Conference of Togo (Conférence Episcopale du Togo, CET).
CET is a member of theRegional Episcopal Conference of West Africa (RECOWA) and of theSymposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM).
List of presidents:
List of Vice Presidents:
| Dioceses | |
|---|---|
| Cathedrals | |
| Monasteries | |
| Bishops | |
| Other | |
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