Catholic Pontiff, Pope Francis has created Katsina Diocese (Nigeria) out of the Diocese of Sokoto, making it a suffragan of the Metropolitan See of Kaduna.
Following the erection of the new Diocese, Pope Francis subsequently appointed Gerald Mamman Musa, as its first Bishop . Until his appointment, Gerald Mamman Musa was the clergy of Diocese of Sokoto. He is a Professor and Director of the Center for Studies on African Culture and Communication (CESACC) at the “Catholic Institute of West Africa” (CIWA), Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Profile of Bishop Gerald Mamman Musa:
SELF. Bishop Gerald Mamman Musa was born on 16 January 1971 in Gusau, Zamfara State. After attending Saint Thomas Aquinas’ Major Seminary in Makurdi and Saint Augustine’s Major Seminary in Jos, he was ordained as a priest on 1 June 1996 for the clergy of the Diocese of Sokoto. He holds a Master’s degree in Dogmatic Theology from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), a Licentiate in Social Sciences, with specialization in Communication, from the Pontifical Gregorian University and a Doctorate in Communication Studies from the School of Journalism and Communication of University of Queensland in Saint Lucia, Brisbane (Australia).
He has held the following positions: Vicar of the Administrator of the Holy Family Cathedral, Sokoto, and Diocesan Secretary, at the Diocesan Chancellery of Sokoto (1996-2000); Secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) at the Sokoto State level (1998-2000); Exco member of the Nigeria Interreligious Council and parish priest of St. Patrick’s in Illela, Sokoto State (2001-2003); parish priest of St. Vincent Ferrer in Malumfashi, in the State of Katsina (2007-2008); Resident priest at St. Bernard, Upper Mount Gravatt, Archdiocese of Brisbane (2008-2011); Resident Priest at the Jubilee Catholic Parish, and Assistant Chaplain at the Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Archdiocese of Brisbane (2011-2012); Parish Administrator of Upper Mount Gravatt-Wishart Parish, Archdiocese of Brisbane (2012-2013). From 2013 to date he has been Professor and Director of the Center for Studies on African Culture and Communication (CESACC) at the Catholic Institute of West Africa (CIWA), Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Statistics
The newly erected Diocese of Katsina [nom. lat. Katsinensis] was dismembered from the Diocese of Sokoto and made a suffragan of the Metropolitan See of Kaduna. The Headquarters of the Diocese is in the city of Katsina. The Cathedral church of the new ecclesiastical district will be the current St. Martin de Porres, in Katsinsa.
Sokoto before partition
New Diocese of Katsina
Sokoto after partition
Surface
109,000km²*
29,000km²
80,000km²