The Apostolic Prefecture of Southern Patagonia was a short-lived (1884-1916) pre-diocesan Latin Catholic jurisdiction in
Patagonia
Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...
(notably
Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla ...
), i.e. southern
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
and
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
.
History
* Established in 1884 as
Apostolic Prefecture
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 Southern Patagonia / Patagonia Meridionale (Curiate Italian) / Magallanes / Tierra del Fuego y Islas Malvinas (Spanish) / Magellanen(sis) (Latin adjective) / Patagoniæ Meridionalis (Latin), on territory split off from the
Diocese of San Carlos de Ancud
* Suppressed on 1916.10.04, its territory being reassigned partly to the Metropolitan
Archdiocese of Buenos Aires (Argentina) and partly to establish the
Apostolic Vicariate of Magallanes y Islas Malvinas (now
Diocese of Punta Arenas, Chile).
No statistics or incumbent(s) data available.
See also
*
List of Catholic dioceses in Argentina
*
List of Catholic dioceses in Chile
The Roman Catholic Church in Chile comprises five ecclesiastical provinces each headed by an archbishop. The provinces are in turn subdivided into 19 dioceses and 6 archdioceses each headed by a bishop or an archbishop. There is also one Terri ...
*
Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Patagonia
Sources and external links
GCatholic - data for all sections
Apostolic prefectures
Former Roman Catholic dioceses in America
Suppressed Roman Catholic dioceses
{{RC-diocese-stub