GBOKO DIOCESE

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE
O
n 29th December, 2012, the Holy See announced the creation of Gboko Diocese by the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI. The territory of the diocese covers 10,692 square kilometres, with a total population of 1,594,282. Catholics in the diocese are 708,641, representing 53.1% of the total population. There are thirty parishes, twenty-eight quasi parishes and one Chaplaincy (fifty-nine in all). The diocese shares boundaries with Makurdi Local Government of Benue State on the North; Cameroon Republic on the North East and Ogoja Local Government of Cross River State on the South-East. Currently, the diocese has One Hundred and Sixty-six indigenous priests, including the Bishop, Eight deacons, One Hundred and Thirty-two Senior Seminarians, and Three Hundred and Eighty Junior Seminarians. Seven Male Religious (including one expatriate missionary) and Twenty-three female Religious are currently serving in the diocese.
Gboko town is the seat of the diocese and also the traditional headquarters of the Tiv people and nation. There are seven Local government areas covered by the diocese, namely, Buruku, Gboko, Konshisha, Kwande, Ushongo, Tarka and Vandeikya. The territory is basically rural but all headquarters of the Local Government Areas and other places may be classified as towns.
The area under the jurisdiction of the diocese was part of the former Apostolic Prefecture of the lower Niger. Fr. Alexander Leon Lejeune, C.S.Sp, who
succeeded Fr. Rene Pawlas, C.S.Sp as Apostolic Prefect is believed to be the first to make contacts with the Tiv people. After the death of Fr. Lejeune in 1905, the Congregation for the Evangelization of the Peoples (Propaganda Fidei) appointed Fr. Jules Douvry C.S.S.p in 1917 as Administrator for the whole of Cameroon.Fr. Douvry also made exploratory journey among the Tiv people to find out the possibility of establishing a station there but when he travelled to France, he could not return to Nigeria due to ill-health that led to his death in 1924. Before his death, however, he sent a report to Ogoja, expressing hope for the future of the Church among the Tiv people. Fr. Douvry worked together with Fr. Mellet, C.S.Sp. All these priests were French nationals.
On 6th June 1920, Fr. Joseph Shanahan, C.S.Sp, an Irish national working in the Eastern part of Nigeria, was appointed Bishop and made Vicar Apostolic of the New Vicariate of Southern Nigeria. The region under the Vicariate was not only quite vast but also composed of diverse ethnic groups. Accordingly, Bishop Shanahan appealed for Missionaries to assist in proclaiming the Good News in the Vicariate.
Under Bishop J. Shanahan, the evangelizing mission of the church in Southern Nigeria received new impetus. From Calabar, one of the coastal towns through which expatriates, including Missionaries came to Nigeria, priests were sent to settle in Ogoja town.
From Ogoja, the Missionaries evangelized towns like Obudu, Ikom, Kakwagom, and Tiv land. Through the hard work of those missionaries, St. Joseph’s Korinya was erected in 1920. Among the 29 Titulars of Churches and stations listed in a book, St. Joseph’s Korinya (but written Kornya) is number 28. From 1931 onwards Fr. Joseph Kirsten, C.S.Sp was one of the first priests to stay in Korinya. He was eventually appointed Apostolic prefecture in 1936. Within the territory covered by Gboko diocese, therefore, St. Joseph’s Korinya was the first Catholic Church, and it became a parish in 1945. The first Tiv person to be ordained a Catholic Priest in 1970 came from Korinya Parish.
In 1929, Fr. Joseph Soul, C.S.Sp, one of the General Councillors visited the Southern Vicariate, which included Obudu and Tivland. The visit providentially made the Holy Ghost Fathers more determined to evangelize the people of the Lower Benue, where majority were Tiv, Idoma and Igala. Rapid progress in the missionary task in lower Benue was, nevertheless, hampered by cultural differences, language barrier, lack of roads and other challenges.
In 1930, Bishop J. Shanahan negotiated with the German Providential of the Holy Ghost Fathers to send their members to work in the prefecture. An agreement to that effect was signed the same year. The German Holy Ghost priests and brothers arrived Nigeria the same year, 1930. In 1934, a Benue Prefecture was created, comprising
Igala, Idoma, Tiv Wukari, Yola and other Northern missions.
In 1959, Monsignor Hagan was made Apostolic Prefect and was ordained Bishop of Makurdi Diocese in 1960. He administered the diocese for six years before he resigned on health grounds. He was succeeded by Bishop Donald Joseph Murray, C.S.Sp in 1966, who served for 20 years and resigned due to ill-health in 1989. In the same year, the Coadjutor, Late Bishop Athanasius A. Usuh succeeded him. Under Bishop Usuh, four other dioceses have been carved out of Makurdi, namely, Otukpo, in 1995, Lafia in 2001, Gboko and Katsina-Ala in 2012.
St. John the Baptist’s Cathedral, the seat of the diocese of Gboko, was as an outstation of Korinya before its establishment as a parish in 1938. Fr. Theodor Strick, C.S.Sp was the pioneer Parish Priest of St. John. Several other missionaries worked in the Parish.
By the determination of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI for effective proclamation of the Good News, the request for the erection of two dioceses by Bishop Usuh, even though considered impossible by many people, became a reality.
Thus, the diocese of Gboko, along with Katsina – Ala Diocese were carved out of Markudi Diocese, and Most Rev. Williams Amore Avenya, who until 2013, was the Auxilary Bishop of Makurdi Diocese, was installed the first Bishop of Gboko Diocese.
STATISTICS AT-A-GLANCE
First Missionaries: Fr. Alexander leone Lejuene CSSp; Fr. Jules Douvry CSSp Population of Diocese: Catholic Population: Indigenous Priests: Deacons: Male Religious: Missionary: Nigerian sisters: Major Seminarians: Minor Seminarians: No of Parishes: No of Quasi Parishes: Chaplaincy: