On 3 April in 1846 it was established by pope
Gregory XVI as
Apostolic Vicariate of Central Africa, on vast territory split off from the
Apostolic Vicariate of Egypt and Arabia (now reduce to the Apostolic Vicariate of Alexandria) in
Egypt. Although it was initially headquartered in Egypt, it covered only the part of
Egypt south of Assuan, where the population was primarily
Nubians and the
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan as well as French colonies
Chad and
Niger. It also included parts of
Adamaua and
Sokoto on
Lake Chad, and the
Nile Province of
Uganda Protectorate. In 1851 the Emperor
Francis Joseph I of Austria (a Catholic monarchy without overseas colonial interests) took the mission under his
protection. It was also known as the
Apostolic Vicariate of Sudan (), or in full
Vicariate Apostolic of Sudan or Central-Africa, by the early 20th-century. It lost territory on 1880.09.27 to establish the
Apostolic Vicariate of Tanganyika and again in October 27, 1880 to establish the
Apostolic Vicariate of Nyanza (now the
Archdiocese of Kampala), in Uganda. From 1883 to 1898, the Sudan (then an Egyptian province) was closed by the insurrection of the
Mahdi Mohammed Ahmed and his successor
Abdallahi ibn Muhammad, and the missionaries were compelled to work outside the circuit of their jurisdiction in Egypt. On 2 September 1898, the
Anglo-Egyptian army, which in 1896 had begun operations for the recovery of the lost provinces, completed the overthrow of the Khalifa, although he was not slain until November of the following year. The country suffered long from the effects of the '
Dervish' (Mahdist) oppression, during which it was largely depopulated, wide tracts having gone out of cultivation and trade having been abandoned. In 1899 mission work was recommenced in Sudan. The two religious congregations, the
Sons of the Sacred Heart and the
Pious Mothers of Nigritia, furnished missionaries and sisters to the vicariate, and the two periodical papers
La Nigrizia (
The Africaness, in
Verona, Italy) and
Stern der Neger ('Star of the Africans', in
Brixen, then imperial Austria) print articles about this mission. The number of inhabitants is uncertain, perhaps about eight millions. Missionary work was limited to the southern and animist part of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (primarily now in
South Sudan) with the
Shillouki Dinka,
Nuer,
Jur,
Golo,
Nyam Nyam and other
Nilotic tribes. In the northern Muslim part were some European and Oriental Catholic immigrants. In the early 20th century it included: — stations at
Assuan (now in Egypt),
Omdurman,
Khartoum (central station); Lul and
Atigo (
White Nile);
Wau,
Kayango and 'Cleveland' (
Bahrel-Ghazal); Omach and
Gulu (
Uganda); besides twenty-five localities provided excurrendo. The membership under Apostolic Vicar Francis Xavier Geyer was Catholics, 3000;
catechumens, 1030; priests, 35; brothers, 28; sisters, 45. On 30 May 1913 it was renamed the
Apostolic Vicariate of Khartum after its see, the present Sudanese capital, as its southern territory was split off to establish the
Apostolic Prefecture of Bahr el-Ghazal, which is now the
Diocese of Wau, somewhat approximating the split between Sudan and
South Sudan. However it continued to cover
Niger,
Chad and stretched into modern
Nigeria and
Cameroon. On 28 April 1914 the
Apostolic Prefecture of Adamaua (now the
Diocese of Nkongsamba) was formed, taking territory from the Apostolic Vicariate of Khartoum. It lost territories again to establish missionary jurisdictions becoming current dioceses : • on 1933.01.10 the
Mission sui juris of Kodok (today the
Diocese of Malakal, now in
South Sudan) • on 1942.04.28 the
Apostolic Prefecture of Niamey (in French colony
Niger, now the Metropolitan
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Niamey, ) • on 1947.01.09 the
Apostolic Prefecture of Fort-Lamy (in French colony
Chad, now the Metropolitan
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of N'Djamena) • on 1960.05.10 the
Apostolic Vicariate of El Obeid (now its remaining suffragan
Roman Catholic Diocese of El Obeid within Sudan). On 12 December 1974, it was promoted as
Metropolitan Archdiocese of Khartoum. In February 1993, it enjoyed a Papal visit from
Pope John Paul II. ==Special churches==