Originally the Mission of Tabora formed part of the Mission of Tanganyika, created in 1878 when the Missionaries of Africa first arrived in Tabora on 12th September, 1878 carrying the message of love with the mission to plant the Cross of Christ in African Soil. It was erected as Pro-Vicariate on 30th December 1886, and became the Vicariate Apostolic of Unyanyembe on 28th January, 1897. The name was changed to V.A. of Tabora in 1925.

The Missionaries, in obedience to the call of Jesus Christ of taking the Gospel to the ends of the world as witnesses in the same vein as the Apostles (Acts 1:8; Mt 28:16-20), made sure that this august task continued by training and forming men and women to work along with them and eventually shoulder it.

The Vicariate of Tabora was dedicated to Mary Immaculate. The document testifying to this was duly signed and placed in the Mother Church, Ushirombo, at the foot of the statue of Our Lady Auxiliatrix, on 8th September, 1910.

When Pope Pius XII erected the Hierarchy in East Africa on 25th March, 1953, the Vicariate of Tabora was raised to the rank of Archdiocese and became the Metropolitan See for the Ecclesiastical Province of Western Tanganyika. Its boundaries have been modified over the years. With the creation of the Dioceses of Singida on 25th March, 1972, and Kahama the boundaries were fixed as follows:

– To the North, it is bounded by the civil districts of Kahama, Biharamulo, Geita and Shinyanga.

– To the South, by the rivers of Limba-Limba and Ugalla.

– To the East, by the rivers Wembere, Mhwala, Nyahua and Njomwio

– To the West, by the rivers Malagarasi and Moyowosi.

According to Canon Law (Can. 216), dioceses must be divided into parishes. But a decree of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith of 9th December, 1920, modified this obligation, allowing some part of a mission diocese to remain undivided into parishes, provided that some parishes at least are erected.

In Tabora parishes in fact cover the whole territory of the archdiocese, so that canonically there are no unoccupied parts in it.

It should be noted that when a vicariate is changed into a diocese – as was the case with Tabora – the quasi-parishes already existing become ipso facto parishes, but with the proviso that whatever is stated in law of quasi-parishes remains applicable to these mission parishes.

It is the local Ordinary who erects parishes and fixes their boundaries and only he can suppress a parish or modify its boundaries. These boundaries should be fixed as accurately as possible and the seat of the parish, that is, the place where the parish church is built, should be determined.

Geographically, the archdiocese of Tabora is located more or less to the centre of Tanzania along central railway towards Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika. It covers an area 76,151 sq. km, equal to that of Tabora administrative region with a total population of 2,291,615 according to the Census of 2012. The Archdiocese has established twenty five parishes and numerous outstations where the faithful gather for worship and other religious activities. The Archdiocese has additionally established and administered many institutions for the promotion of vocations, formation of lay ministers, religious and the clergy for the spiritual good of its people and in order to form citizens of the region guided by Christian moral values. In all these endeavours we are duty bound in promoting and enhancing holistic development. Thus, the mission of the Archdiocese of Tabora is to provide both religious pastoral services for the welfare of the Catholic population within the Archdiocese, and to assist in promoting the common good of all people, regardless of creed, for their spiritual socio-economic welfare.

The Archdiocese of Tabora Strategic Plan 2016-2022 (ADTSP) is a participatory process that engaged the entire family of God in Tabora Archdiocese to develop her own Mission statement, Vision and Core Values, to access her strengths and resources, needs and limitations, and giving recommendations to the pastoral and development agents regarding the priorities, goals, objectives, and strategies as how to realize her Mission. This ADTST is our road map for the coming six years.

The need for the strategic planning process came out of the Archdiocesan Synodal Synopsis (2012/2013). Many cross-cutting issues were raised during the Synod proceedings called for strategies in addressing them. It was thus decided that the Archdiocese should draw up a Strategic Plan for her Pastoral Activities.

The process of preparing this Strategic Plan was preceded by a workshop, whose goal was: to create awareness among the agents of evangelization on their capacities and potentials, and empower them by providing skills of management and thus help Church Institutions in Tabora to plan and implement well their projects.

It was an arduous activity that aimed at refreshing our minds on SWOT analysis, Strategic Planning, and Problem-analysis, before we begin the actual Strategic Planning process. This was a product of a four-day workshop, from 27th to 30th April 2015, with representatives from all parishes and institutions that had gathered at the Archdiocesan Headquarters.

Pastoral planning process is a result of discernment by listening carefully to the pastoral and development realities and collecting relevant data of the life and faith among the Catholics in our Archdiocese.

In this Strategic Pastoral plan (2016- 2022), we have identified five goals to which we would like to direct our resources and energies. It is our hope and prayer that every Catholic in the Archdiocese will work hard to ensure that these goals are achieved. Indeed, this is an appropriate way of responding to the present needs of the Archdiocese. Therefore, it is our call upon every Catholic in the Archdiocese to own this document, to adopt it, and to practically implement it as part and parcel of the Pastoral life of the Archdiocese. The successful implementation of this document will require that all parishes and institutions prepare their own Strategic Plans based on the Archdiocesan one, which clearly states the Archdiocesan priorities and submit them to the Archbishop for approval of their implementation.

We are sincerely grateful to all those who have contributed to the successful completion of this document. PORTICUS has played a vital role in the development of this Pastoral Plan by providing financial resource. We thank all participants in the process of preparing this document: the steering committee, the facilitators, and the entire family of God in Tabora. Let our earnest prayer be that every Catholic faithful in Tabora becomes part of the successful implementation of this Pastoral Plan. Let all leaders translate the identified Pastoral and Development Strategies into action by involving everyone in the Parishes and Institutions.

The logical framework analysis of the Archdiocese of Tabora

A logical framework was developed for the strategic plan as a way of presenting substance of the plan in a comprehensive and logically understandable form. The underlying objectives were placed against their respective strategies. Indicators were then developed against the objectives and their respective Means of Verification. Assumptions to indicate the factors in the environment that will allow for successful implementation of the plan were also shown against every objective.

St. Therese of the Child Jesus Cathedral Parish – Tabora [1900]

Below is a list of departments in the Archdiocese of Tabora, persons in charge and addresses

Deacons

Below is a list of Missionary Priests working in the Catholic Archdiocese of Tabora.

1. Daughters of Mary