Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maputo

Archdiocese of Maputo

*Archidioecesis Maputensis*
Archdiocese of Maputo; Archidioecesis Maputensis
	Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Maputo
Location
Country	Mozambique
Ecclesiastical province	Maputo
Statistics
Population; - Total; - Catholics	(as of 2013); 4,661,000; 1,134,000 (24.3%)
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	21 January 1612
Cathedral	Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Archbishop	João Carlos Hatoa Nunes
Auxiliary Bishops	António Juliasse Ferreira Sandramo
Bishops emeritus	Alexandre José Maria Cardinal dos Santos, O.F.M.; Francisco Chimoio, OFM Cap
Website
	www.arquidiocesedemaputo.org

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maputo (Latin: Maputensis) is the Metropolitan See for the ecclesiastical province of Maputo in Mozambique.

History

21 January 1612: Established as a prelature nullius from the Diocese of Goa^[1]^[2]^[3]
1783: Promoted as Territorial Prelature of Mozambique
4 September 1940: Promoted as Archdiocese of Lourenço Marques
18 September 1976: Renamed Archdiocese of Maputo

The seat of the archbishop is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception (Catedral Metropolitana de Nossa Senhora da Conceição) in Maputo.

Domingos Torrado, O.S.A. (1612), auxiliary bishop of Goa, named by Pope Paul VI but died in Goa before leaving for Africa

...

Amaro José de São Tomás, OP (18 July 1783 – 18 July 1801)
Vasco José a Domina Nostra de Bona Morte Lobo, CRSA (26 June 1805 – 17 December 1811)
Joaquim de Nossa Senhora de Nazareth Oliveira e Abreu, OFM Ref (17 December 1811 – 23 August 1819), appointed Bishop of São Luís do Maranhão, Brazil
Bartholomeu de Martyribus Maya, OCD (10 November 1819 – 1828)
Antonio Tomas da Silva Leitão e Castro (30 January 1883 – 27 March 1884), appointed Bishop of Angola e Congo, Angola
Henrique José Reed da Silva (27 March 1884 – 14 March 1887), appointed Bishop of São Tomé of Meliapore, India
Antonio Dias Ferreira (14 March 1887 – 1 June 1891), appointed Bishop of Angola e Congo, Angola
António José de Sousa Barroso (12 February 1891 – 11 October 1897), appointed Bishop of São Tomé of Meliapore, India
Sebastião José Pereira (16 November 1897 – 23 July 1900)
Antonio José Gomes Cardoso (Apostolic administrator; 17 December 1900 – 23 July 1901)
António Moutinho (21 August 1901 – 14 November 1904), appointed Bishop of Santiago de Cabo Verde, Cape Verde
Francisco Ferreira da Silva (14 November 1904 – 8 May 1920)
Joaquim Rafael Maria d’Assunçâo Pitinho, OFM (16 December 1920 – 15 November 1935), appointed Bishop of Santiago de Cabo Verde, Cape Verde
Teodósio de Gouveia (18 May 1936 – 4 September 1940 see below); future Cardinal

Until 1976, the Archbishop of Maputo was titled the Archbishop of Lourenço Marques.

Teodósio de Gouveia (see above 4 September 1940 – 6 February 1962) (Cardinal in 1946; attended 1958 papal conclave)
Custódio Alvim Pereira (3 August 1962 – 26 August 1974)
Alexandre José Maria dos Santos, OFM (23 December 1974 – 22 February 2003) (Cardinal in 1988)
Francisco Chimoio, OFM Cap (22 February 2003 – 5 May 2023)
João Carlos Hatoa Nunes (since 5 May 2023 – …)

^ Kenny, O.P., Joseph (1982). The Catholic Church in Tropical Africa 1445-1850. Ibadan University Press & Dominican Publications. Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
^ Vilanculos, Júlio André. The role played by Church and State in the democratisation process in Mozambique, 1975-2004 (PDF). Department of Church History and Church Polity, University of Pretoria. The second missionary expedition in Mozambique began in January 1612 after the papal bull was issued by Pope Paulo V, who elevated Mozambique to a "Prelature Nullius". Prelature Nullius means a certain area of Roman Catholic Church that is functioning without a Prelate/Bishop. In such a situation, the Pope chooses an Administrator to run the activities of the Church.
^ Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 1. Robert Appleton Company. 1907. p. 190.