Catholic Church in Zimbabwe

{{short description|none}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}

{{Infobox Christian denomination

| icon = Emblem_of_the_Papacy_SE.svg

| icon_width = 25px

| icon_alt =

| name = Catholic Church
in Zimbabwe

| native_name =

| native_name_lang =

| image =File:Diocesi dello Zimbabwe.png

| imagewidth =

| alt =

| caption =Zimbabwean Diocese' boundaries. Harare and Bulawayo are metropolitan Archdiocese

| abbreviation =

| type = National polity

| main_classification = Catholic

| orientation = Latin

| scripture = Bible

| theology = Catholic theology

| polity = Episcopal

| governance = Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference

| structure =

| leader_title = Pope

| leader_name = {{incumbent pope}}

| leader_title1 = ZCBC President

| leader_name1 = Robert Ndlovu

| leader_title2 = Apostolic Nuncio

| leader_name2 = Paolo Rudelli

| leader_title3 =

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| associations =

| area =Zimbabwe

| language =English, Shona, Ndebele

| liturgy =

| headquarters =

| origin_link =

| founder =Jesuits

| founded_date =1887

| founded_places =

| separated_from =

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| members = 1,367,669

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| hospitals =

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| website =http://www.zcbc.co.zw/

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}}

{{Catholic Church by country}}

The Catholic Church in Zimbabwe is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope of Rome, Pope Leo XIV.

According to the 2017 Inter Censal Demography Survey by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency 8.0% of the population of Zimbabwe were Catholic; overall, 84% of the country had a Christian background.[https://zimbabwe.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/Inter%20Censal%20Demography%20Survey%202017%20Report.pdf Inter Censal Demography Survey 2017 Report], Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (2017)

There were 1,145,000 Catholics in the country (about 9% of the total population) in 2005.[http://www.earthhealing.info/catholicstats.pdf Earth Healing website, statistics], Albert J. Fritsch, SJ, PhD., 2005 By 2017, the censal survey had the number of Catholics at 1.2 million.

In 2020, Catholic numbers were up to 2 million people, with 600 priests and 1,000 nuns serving across 267 parishes.[https://www.catholicsandcultures.org/zimbabwe Catholics and Culture website, retrieved 2023-08-08]

Pius Ncube, the former archbishop of Bulawayo, was an outspoken critic of the then government of Robert Mugabe, who was also a Catholic.