Catholic Church in Nigeria

As of 2026, the president of the CBCN is Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso, Archbishop of Kaduna. He followed the previous president, Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji.

Overview

The Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches comprise the world's largest Christian Church and the largest religious grouping globally. In 2005, there were an estimated 19 million baptised Catholics in Nigeria. In 2010, the Catholic population accounted for approximately 12.6% of the population, 70% of which can be found in Southeast Nigeria.

Historically, the Holy Ghost Fathers maintained a strong presence in Igboland in today's South-eastern Nigeria, whereas the White Fathers operated in Western and Northern Nigeria, and the Society of African Missions in Lagos.

Nigeria, together with the Congo-Kinshasa, boasts of the highest number of priests in Africa. The boom in vocations to the priesthood in Nigeria is mainly in the South-eastern part, especially among the Igbo ethnic group, of which the first evangelizers were Holy Ghost Fathers.

The second papal visit to the country in 1998 witnessed the beatification of Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi. Pope John Paul II proclaimed him blessed at Oba, Onitsha Archdiocese, a local Church established by the apostle of eastern Nigeria, Bishop Joseph Shanahan, CSSp.

The official patron saints of Nigeria are Mary, Queen of Nigeria, and Patrick of Ireland.

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Demographics

Christianity was followed by an estimated 46.18% of the Nigerian population in 2020; one-quarter of Christians in Nigeria are Catholic (12.39% of the country's population).

In the same year, over 9,500 priests and 6,500 religious sisters served over 4,000 parishes.

Church of the Agudas

Old communities of Catholics in the country include those of some Yorubas of the South-West, who are known in the Yoruba language as Ijo Aguda (lit. "Church of the Agudas") due to their historic connection to the Brazilian Nigerian community. The link between these Brazilians, commonly called Agudas, and the wider community of Yoruba Catholics dates back to the establishment of a group of lay believers in Lagos in the decades prior to the construction of the Holy Cross Cathedral in the city in 1881.

List of dioceses

The Catholic Church in Nigeria is organized into ecclesiastical provinces, each headed by a Metropolitan Archbishop. Each province consists of a Metropolitan Archdiocese and several Suffragan Dioceses. In addition, areas not yet established as dioceses are organized as Apostolic Vicariates.

Immediately subject to the Holy See:

Maronite Catholic Eparchy of the Annunciation

Episcopal conference

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria is the Nigerian episcopal conference. Its current President is Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji.

Catholic traditionalism

A more traditionalist subset of the Catholic Church is also present in Nigeria and embodied by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (Nne Enyemaka Shrine, Umuaka). There also exists a community of the irregular status Society of St. Pius X (Saint Michael's Priory, Enugu).

Catholic universities in Nigeria

Caritas University, Amorji-Nike
Spiritan University, Nneochi.
Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu
Madonna University (Ihiala), Okija
Our Saviour Institute of Science and Technology, Enugu
VUNA, Veritas University Abuja (The Catholic University of Nigeria), Abuja
Augustine University Ilara
Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos
Dominican University, Ibadan

Major seminaries in Nigeria

Seminary of Saints Peter and Paul, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria Archived 18 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine
Seminary of All Saints, Uhiele Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria
Bigard Memorial Seminary, Enugu
St. Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary, Makurdi Archived 30 October 2023 at the Wayback Machine
St. Augustine's Major Seminary, Jos
National Missionary Seminary of St. Paul, Gwagwalada Archived 22 December 2024 at the Wayback Machine
St Joseph Major Seminary Ikot Ekpene
Blessed Tansi Major Seminary Onitsha, Anambra State
St Albert The Great Major Seminary Abeokuta
St. John of the Cross Spiritual Year Seminary, Ekpoma
Seat of Wisdom Major Seminary, Owerri
Seat of Wisdom Major Seminary, Umuahia Campus
JohnPaul II Major Seminary, Awka
Good Shepherd Major Seminary, Kaduna
Claretian Institute of Philosophy, Nekede Owerri
Spiritan Institute of Theology Attakwu Enugu
Spiritan Institute of Philosophy, Isienu Nsukka
Don Bosco Institute of Philosophy Affiliated to Salesian Pontifical University (Rome)
Dominican Institute

Minor seminaries in Nigeria

St Augustine's seminary, Amechi Ezzamgbo, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State
Holy Ghost Juniorate Seminary, Ihiala, Anambra State. (Spiritans)
Queen of Apostles Seminary, Afaha Obong, Abak, Akwa Ibom State
Immaculate Conception Seminary, Mfamosing, Cross River State
St John Vianney Minor Seminary, Barkin-Ladi, Plateau State
St James' Junior Seminary, Yandev Gboko
St Jude's Minor Seminary, Kuje Abuja
St Theresa's Minor Seminary Oke-Are Ibadan
Sacred Hearts Minor Seminary Akure
St Clement's Minor Seminary, Adankolo-Lokoja, Kogi State
St Paul's Seminary Ukpor, Nnewi Anambra State
All Hallows Seminary, Onitsha Anambra State
St Joseph's Seminary Special Science School, Awka-Etiti Anambra State.
Mercy Seminary, Bende Abia State
Immaculate Conception Seminary, Ahiaeke Umuahia, Abia State
St Dominic Savio Seminary, Akpu, Anambra State
St John Bosco Seminary, Isuaniocha, Anambra State
Holy Martyrs of Uganda seminary Effurun, Delta State
Annunciation Seminary Amaudara, Abia State
St John-cross minor seminary, Isienu-Nsukka, Enugu state
St Charles Borromeo seminary, Imiringi, Bayelsa State.
St Mary's Seminary Umuowa, Orlu, Imo State.
Bonus Pastor Seminary Osina, Ideato North, Imo State.
Assumpta Minor Seminary, Owerri Archdiocese.
Mater Ecclesiae Seminary, Nguru Mbaise, Ahiara Diocese
St Peter Claver's Seminary Okpala Owerri Archdiocese
Pope John Paul II Seminary Yala Okpoma Ogoja Diocese
St Peter's Seminary Ogii, Okigwe Diocese
Sacred Heart Seminary, Rumuebiekwe Port Hacourt, Port hacourt Diocese
St Felix Seminary Ejeme-Anigor, Delta State
St Joseph Seminary Basawa, Zaria, Kaduna State.
St Charles Borromeo Minor Seminary, Madakiya Kaduna State
St Peter's Minor Seminary, Katari Kaduna State
St Peter's Minor Seminary, Yola Adamawa State
St Joseph's Minor Seminary, Shuwa Adamawa State
Sacred Heart Minor Seminary, Jauro Yinu Taraba State
St Paul Minor Seminary, Benin City, Edo State

Nigerians who have been canonized or beatified

Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi, from Anambra State, beatified by Pope John Paul II, 22 March 1998

Catholic religious congregations founded in Nigeria

Daughters of Divine Love
New Evangelization Sisters of Mother of Perpetual Help)
Sons of Mary, Mother of Mercy Congregation
Daughters of Mary, Mother of Mercy Congregation, founded in 1961 (DMMM).
Holy Family Fathers and Brothers of the Youth (HFFBY), established in 2003.
Holy Family Sisters of the Needy
Missionary Sisters of Divine Mercy, Nnewi, Nigeria Archived 2 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine
Sisters of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, Ikeja, Lagos-State.
Sisters of Jesus Crucified, Uratta, Owerri, Imo State
Missionary sister of Jesus and Mary, Warri

Missionary societies active in Nigeria

Society of African Missions
The Spiritans (Congregation of the Holy Spirit, C.S.Sp.) Archived 29 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine
The Augustinians (Order of Saint Augustine, O.S.A.)
Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles
St. Louis Sisters
Salesians of Don Bosco Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB)]
Missionaries of Africa
Pontifical Mission Societies of Nigeria (PMS Nigeria) Archived 16 November 2024 at the Wayback Machine
Aid to the Church in Need
Missionary Society of St. Paul Archived 16 November 2024 at the Wayback Machine
Order of Preachers (Dominicans)
Order of Discalced Carmelites
The Franciscans
Society of Jesus (Jesuits)
The Cleratian Missionary Fathers
The Oblates Of St Joseph
The Redemptorists
Vocationists The Society of Divine Vocations
Daughters of St Paul
(Missionary Sisters of Divine Mercy P. O. Box 611 Nnewi Nigeria. Cell: +2348033802674)
Oblates of the Virgin Mary
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate

Persecution

Catholic Church in Nigeria faces severe persecution. According to the CBCN, at least 145 priests have been kidnapped, 11 have been murdered, and four remain missing between 2015 and 2025. Report by the NGO International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) stated that at least 15 priests were kidnapped between January and August 2025 by Fulani, Boko Haram and other forces. The phenomenon, according to the report, is due to a combination of attacks by jihadist groups and organized criminal gangs operating for profit, with priests being victims of both violent ambushes and financial extortion.

In Nigeria, the Boko Haram insurgency aims to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria. This has resulted in the persecution of Christians in Nigeria. There has been a tendency of "mischaracterisation of the situation as civil conflict". The number of Nigerian Christians killed for their identification as Christians accounts for 70% of those being killed for their faith worldwide. The academic Journal of African Studies and Sustainable Development published a paper in 2020 that noted that since 2015, over 12,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria. Christian human rights organisations, such as Global Christian Relief have provided higher figures, such as documenting in 2023 that 52,250 Christians were murdered for their faith in the previous fourteen years. In 2025, this garnered international attention with United States president Donald Trump vowing military action in Nigeria if the attacks against Christians did not subside; on Christmas Day 2025, the United States targeted ISIS cells in Nigeria.

In November 2025 the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria issued a statement saying that "it is a matter of grave concern that several predominantly Christian communities, particularly in the Northern and middle belt regions of the country, have come under repeated and brutal attacks, resulting in heavy casualties and the tragic loss of many Christian lives" and adding that "Such prolonged unbearable conditions have given credence to allegations of ‘genocide’ in some quarters. Yet, mindful of the sacred dignity and inestimable worth of every human life, we are equally deeply concerned that Muslims and many other innocent citizens of diverse ethnic backgrounds have also been victims of this same cruelty that continues to desecrate our common humanity."