Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Songea

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Songea (Latin: Archidioecesis Songeana) is the Metropolitan See for the ecclesiastical province of Songea in Tanzania.

Archdiocese of Songea Archidioecesis Songeana
Location
Country	Tanzania
Territory	Songea
Ecclesiastical province	Archdiocese of Songea
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	November 12, 1913
Cathedral	St. Mathias Mulumba Kalemba Metropolitan Cathedral
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Archbishop	Damian Denis Dallu
Bishops emeritus	Norbert Wendelin Mtega

History

• 12 November 1913: Established as Apostolic Prefecture of Lindi from the Apostolic Vicariate of Dar-es-Salaam
• 15 December 1927: Promoted as Diocese of Lindi
• 23 December 1931: Demoted as Territorial Abbacy of Peramiho
• 6 February 1969: Promoted as Diocese of Songea

Special churches

The seat of the archbishop is at the St. Mathias Mulumba Kalemba Metropolitan Cathedral in Songea.

Bishops

Ordinaries

• Prefects Apostolic of Lindi (Latin Church)
  • Willibrord Lay (1913–1922)
• Territorial Abbots of Peramiho (Roman rite)
  • Gallus Steiger (22 February 1922 – 6 December 1952)
  • Eberhard Spiess (9 September 1953 – 6 February 1969)
  • Emmanuel Mapunda (8 August 1965 – 6 February 1986)
• Bishop of Songea (Latin Church)
  • James Joseph Komba (6 February 1969 – 18 November 1987)
• Metropolitan Archbishops of Songea (Latin Church)
  • James Joseph Komba (18 November 1987 – 1 February 1992)
  • Norbert Wendelin Mtega (6 July 1992 – 15 May 2013)
  • Damian Denis Dallu (14 March 2014 –)

Auxiliary bishop

• James Joseph Komba (1961–1969), appointed Bishop here

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

• Emmanuel A. Mapunda, appointed Bishop of Mbinga in 1986

Suffragan dioceses

• Lindi
• Mbinga
• Mtwara
• Njombe
• Tunduru–Masasi

See also

• Roman Catholicism in Tanzania

Sources

• GCatholic.org
• Archdiocese of Songea website Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine
• Catholic Hierarchy