The Apostolic Vicariate (or Vicariate Apostolic) of Puerto Ayacucho ( la, Apostolicus Vicariatus Portus Ayacuquensis) is a

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

missionary ecclesiastical jurisdiction or apostolic vicariate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. Its cathedral see, Catedral María Auxiliadora, is located in the town of

Puerto Ayacucho Puerto Ayacucho () is the capital and largest city of Amazonas State in Venezuela. Puerto Ayacucho is located across the Orinoco River from the Colombian village of Casuarito. The city was founded to facilitate the transport of goods past the ...

, in Venezuela's Amazonas state. It is immediately exempt to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

and not part of any

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United State ...

History

On 5 February 1932

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...

established the

Prefecture Apostolic An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

of Alto Orinoco from territory taken from the then Diocese of Santo Tomás de Guayana (which meanwhile became the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Ciudad Bolívar). It was elevated to a Vicariate Apostolic and given its present name by

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

on 7 May 1953.

Incumbent Ordinaries

So far, all incumbents have been members of the missionary

Salesians , image = File:Stemma big.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , abbreviation = SDB , formation = , founder = John Bosco , founding_location = Valdocco, Turi ...

(S.D.B.) congregation ;''Apostolic Prefects of Alto Orinoco'' *Enrico de Ferrari, S.D.B. † (14 Nov. 1932 – 3 Aug. 1945) *Cosma Alterio, S.D.B. † (31 Jan. 1947 – 1950) *Segundo García Fernández, S.D.B. † (21 Aug. 1950 – ''cfr. infra) ;Apostolic Vicars *Segundo García Fernández, S.D.B. † (''cfr. supra'' – 5 Oct. 1974) *Enzo Ceccarelli Catraro, S.D.B. † (5 Oct. 1974 – 23 Oct. 1989) * Ignacio Velasco, S.D.B. † (23 Oct. 1989 – 27 May 1995) Appointed, Archbishop of Caracas, Santiago de Venezuela *José Angel Divassón Cilveti, S.D.B. (23 Feb. 1996 – present)

Sources and references

External links

GigaCatholic, with more extensive ordinaries biographies
Apostolic vicariates Roman Catholic dioceses in Venezuela Christian organizations established in 1932 1932 establishments in Venezuela Puerto Ayacucho {{Venezuela-RC-diocese-stub

History

Incumbent Ordinaries

See also

Sources and references

External links