Diocese of Auchi Dioecesis Auchianus |
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Location | |
Country | ![]() |
Territory | a portion of Edo State |
Ecclesiastical province | Benin City |
Metropolitan | Archbishop of Benin City |
Coordinates | 7°04′00″N 6°16′00″E / 7.06667°N 6.26667°E Auchi |
Statistics | |
Area | 6,116 km2 (2,361 sq mi) |
Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2004) 800,200 65,000 (8.1%) |
Information | |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Rite | Latin Rite |
Established | December 4, 2002 |
Cathedral | Saint Vincent Cathedral in Auchi |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Francis |
Bishop | Most Rev. Gabriel Ghiakhomo Dunia |
Map | |
![]() Auchi is in Edo State which is shown here in red. |
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Website | |
CatholicDioceseofAuchi.org |
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Auchi (Latin: Auchian(us)) is a diocese located in the city of Auchi, Edo State in the Ecclesiastical province of Benin City in Nigeria.
The history of the Catholic Church in Etsako - Afemai land or what is now the Diocese of Auchi dates back to the latter part of the 19th century - when the first Roman Catholic missionaries arrived at Agenebode in the present Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State in Nigeria - and opened a mission station there. The team was led by Carlo Zappa who took over as the Prefect of the Upper Niger in 1894, with headquarters in Asaba.
As a Prefect, Zappa successfully gained access into the interior and established stations throughout the territory now known as Benin Ecclesiastical province.
In Etsako, he opened a parish station at Agenebode in 1897.
From the narratives of oral traditional history by our community elders, it was gathered that through the successful settlement of the Royal Niger Company - a trading foreign company which included the John Holt Brothers and early explorers like Richard Lander etc., the missionaries discovered that the Agenebode people were easily accessible through the River Niger and to some degree hospitable to foreigners. This, gave them confidence to pitch their tents among the people.
As a matter of fact, deductive reasoning and oral narratives, show that these white missionaries had already had contacts with the Agenebode indigenes as far back as 1884 - exploring the possibility of opening a parish church within the community. Prior to 1897, there has to be all kinds of logistics - preparations, negotiations and gathering of people before a church community starts. It took them about 13 years to build a base before a parish was finally birthed in 1897.
When Benin City diocese celebrated their 100 - centenary year at Agenebode on May 2, 1984; amid other ceremonies in other parts of the diocese, there were questions about the timing, but some living protégés of those missionaries testified that the timing was okay - because there were earlier contacts before a church community was birthed.
It was at Agenebode that the first parish station was opened in the Archdiocese of Benin City with Peter Pioten as the first parish priest. From Agenebode, other parish out stations were opened at Ivianokpodi, Iviukwe,Okpekpe and Apana.