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| Background Information |
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The Diocese of Masvingo, cut off from the Diocese of Gweru, was established on the 24the of April 1999 following a proposal by the Gweru Diocese Board of Consultors, the Diocese Pastoral Council and the Priests' Council in 1993. The first Bishop of the Diocese of Masvingo, according to the most recent Catholic directory of Zimbabwe, has an area of 70 000 square kilometers and a population of about 1, 500 000 people. Of these, about 190 000 are Catholics. The Diocese of Masvingo is dedicated to the Patroness of Mary Queen of peace. |
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 The Great Zimbabwe Monuments |
It is located in the Southern part of the country bordering South Africa and Mozambique and it is in this Diocese that the historic Great Zimbabwe monuments are found, from where the country's name is derived. Significantly is the fact that the vast majority of the population is rural and are mainly Shona speaking people. There are other few ethnic groups like the Shangan, Venda and Chewa especially in the semi-urban areas but are just majorities. The white population in the Diocese is very small and is mainly in the urban and semi-urban areas. During the first phase of Missionary effort (1890-1955), the whole area (now Masvingo Diocese) was part of the Fort Victoria Prefecture which then became Gweru Diocese. The Diocese comprises of eight civil districts, namely: Beightbridge, Bikita, Chiredzi, Chivi, Gutu, Masvingo, Mwenezi, and Zaka. There are three main towns, namely; Masvingo, Chiredzi, and Beightbridge and semi-urban areas such as Triangle, Rutenga and Renco Mine. There are however quite a number of growth points such as Chivi, Jerera, Neshiro and Mpandawana. The Diocese is divided into five deaneries which are: Eastern, Gutu, Lowveld, Masvingo and Southern, and these deaneries are build of various parishes and missions as reflected under the section of Ecclesiastical Structure of the Diocese. It has a total of 23 missions and parishes. Of these, 19 have priests, 4 are without. In the work of the just ended government's Land Reform Programme of 2000, the number of out-centres especially in the resettlement schemes increased significantly. The exact number cannot be immediately verified. This also applies to the catechumens in these stated areas. But according to the recent statistic, the Diocese ha a total of 470 out-centres. |