Diocese of Bata
diocese of the Catholic Church
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bata (Latin: Bataën(sis)) is a suffragan Latin diocese in the ecclesiastical province of Malabo in Equatorial Guinea, yet depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
Its cathedral episcopal see is the St. James and Our Lady of the Pillar Cathedral, dedicated to Saint James the Elder and Our Lady of Pilar, in the city of Bata.
History
Established on August 9, 1965 as Apostolic Vicariate of Río Muni, on territory split off from the Apostolic Vicariate of Fernando Poo
Promoted on May 3, 1966 as Diocese of Bata
Enjoyed a Papal visit from Pope John Paul II in February 1982
Lost territories twice: on 1982.10.15 to establish the Diocese of Ebebiyín and on 2017.04.01 to establish the Diocese of Evinayong
Statistics
As per 2017, it pastorally served 76,200 Catholics (69.3% of 109,910 total) on 6,681 km² in 18 parishes with 53 priests (35 diocesan, 18 religious), 105 lay religious (61 brothers, 44 sisters) and 9 seminarians.
Episcopal ordinaries
(all Roman rite)
Apostolic Vicar of Río Muni
Rafael María Nze Abuy, Claretians (C.M.F.) (1965.08.09 – 1966.05.03 see below)
Suffragan Bishops of Bata
Rafael María Nze Abuy, C.M.F. (see above 1966.05.03 – 1974.05.09 see below)
Apostolic Administrator Father Ildefonso Obama Obono (1971 – 1975), without previous prelature; later Bishop of Ebebiyín (Equatorial Guinea) (1982.10.15 – 1991.07.09), Metropolitan Archbishop of Malabo (Equatorial Guinea) (1991.07.09 – retired 2015.02.11) and President of Episcopal Conference of Equatorial Guinea (2000 – ...)
Apostolic Administrator Vicente Bernikon (1975 – 1976), while Bishop of Malabo (Equatorial Guinea) (1974.05.09 – 1976.09.14)
Rafael María Nze Abuy, C.M.F. (see above 1980.06.26 – 1982.10.21), next Metropolitan Archbishop of Malabo (Equatorial Guinea) (1982.10.21 – death 1991.07.07) and President of Episcopal Conference of Equatorial Guinea (1983 – 1991.07.07)
Anacleto Sima Ngua (1982.11.19 – retired 2002.05.11), President of Episcopal Conference of Equatorial Guinea (1992 – 2000), President of Association of Episcopal Conferences of the Central Africa Region (2000 – 2002)
Juan Matogo Oyana, C.M.F. (2002.05.11 - ...), previously Bishop of Ebebiyín (Equatorial Guinea) (1991.10.11 – 2002.05.11); later Apostolic Administrator of Ebebiyín (2006.08.30 – 2011.02.19).
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Diocese of Bata” is diocese of the Catholic Church. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Diocese, Bata and diocese, not as a finished interpretation.
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Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q867027. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1965, 1966, 1982 and 2017.
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This entry incorporates text from “Diocese of Bata” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.