The Diocese of Ifakara will take territory from the Diocese of Mahenge and will be a suffragan of the metropolitan church of Dar-es-Salaam.
The new diocese has a population of about 323,000, almost 90% of whom are Catholic.
Bishop Salutaris Melchior Libena, 48, was named the first bishop. A native of Itete, he has been an auxiliary bishop for just under two years.
