Archdeaconries 6 Rite Anglican | Parishes 40 Bishop Carlos Matsinhe | |
Cathedral Cathedral of St. Augustine, Maciene Ecclesiastical province Anglican Church of Southern Africa | ||
The Diocese of Lebombo (pt. Diocese Anglicana dos Libombos) is a diocese in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. It is one of the two Anglican dioceses of Mozambique. This diocese is the more Southern of the two, the other being Niassa. It is divided into 6 archdeaconries: Inhambane District, Limpopo, Maciene, Maputo District, Pungoe and Umbeluzi.
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History
The diocese was a result of the British missionary activity in Portuguese Mozambique, in the 19th century. The first bishop nominated of the Anglican Diocese of Lebombo was William Edmund Smyth, in 1893, who would be in functions until 1912. Only after the beginning of the war of independence between Portugal and the FRELIMO, the diocese would have his first Portuguese language bishop, Daniel Pina Cabral, a white European born prelate. Pina Cabral developed friendly relationships with the Roman Catholic bishops of Mozambique and established contact with members of the FRELIMO. He would be in office from 1969 to 1976, shortly after the independence. He was succeeded by the first Mozambican-born black bishop, Dinis Sengulane, in office from 1976 to 2014. He was succeeded by Carlos Matsinhe.
The seat of the diocese is the Cathedral of St Augustine in Maciene in Mozambique. The largest city in the diocese is Maputo. At the 2012 Provincial Synod of the Church of Southern Africa plans to create further dioceses in Mozambique were discussed. As an interim measure, two new episcopal areas are to be created in Lebombo Diocese, with two Area Bishops appointed to work with the Diocesan Bishop.