The Mary Help of Christians Cathedral ( es, Catedral de María Auxiliadora ) also called Fuerte Olimpo Cathedral is the name given to a temple belonging to the Catholic Church and is located in the city of
Fuerte Olimpo
Fuerte Olimpo () is a city in Paraguay. It is the capital of the department of Alto Paraguay. Straddling the river Paraguay which forms the border with Brazil, Fuerte Olimpo is Paraguay's northernmost departmental capital, located over 830 ...
the capital of the department of
Alto Paraguay
Alto Paraguay (; ''Upper Paraguay'') is the least populous as well as a sparsely populated Department (subnational entity), department of Paraguay. The capital is the town of Fuerte Olimpo.
In 1992, the Chaco Department was merged with Alto Para ...
in northern part of South American country of
Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
, near the border with
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.
The temple follows the Roman or Latin rite and functions as the headquarters of the Apostolic Vicariate of Chaco Paraguayo (''Vicariatus Apostolicus Ciachensis in Paraquaria Natione'') which was created in March 1948 with the Bull "Quo in Paraguayana" of
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 ...
.
The present structure was started in 1920 but was paralyzed by lack of funds, retomandose work in 1949 and be completed in 1965 under the leadership of Bishop Angel Muzzolon who is buried in the church.
It is under the pastoral responsibility of the Bishop Gabriel Escobar Narciso Ayala.
See also
*
Roman Catholicism in Paraguay
The Catholic Church in Paraguay is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.
In 2018, there were around 5.7 million Catholics in Paraguay - approximately 88.3%https://www.statista.com/statistics/10 ...
*
St. Mary's Cathedral
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mary Help of Christians Cathedral, Church
Roman Catholic cathedrals in Paraguay
Fuerte Olimpo
Roman Catholic churches completed in 1965
20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Paraguay