The Roman Catholic Diocese of Carolina ( la, Dioecesis Carolinensis in Brasilia) is a

suffragan diocese A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria ...

in the

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 ...

São Luís do Maranhão SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S. ...

in northeastern Brazil's

Maranhão Maranhão () is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of . Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins and ...

state. Its

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

episcopal see is Catedral São Pedro de Alcântara, dedicated to

Saint Peter of Alcantara In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...

, in the city of

Carolina, Maranhão Carolina is a municipality in the state of Maranhão in the Northeast region of Brazil. Carolina is served by Brig. Lysias Augusto Rodrigues Airport. See also *List of municipalities in Maranhão This is a list of the municipalities in the s ...

History

* 14 January 1958: Established as

Territorial Prelature A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

of Carolina, on territory split off from the

Diocese of Rio Preto In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

* 16 October 1979: Promoted as Diocese of Carolina * Lost territory on 1987.06.27 to establish Diocese of Imperatriz

Statistics

As per 2015, it pastorally served 158,100 Catholics (89.9% of 175,800 total) on 18,252 km² in 11 parishes and 1 mission with 12 priests (diocesan), 2 lay religious (2 sisters) and 4 seminarians.

Bishops

(all

Roman Rite The Roman Rite ( la, Ritus Romanus) is the primary liturgical rite of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. It developed in the Latin language in the city of Rome and, while dist ...

)

Episcopal ordinaries

;''Territorial Bishop-Prelates of Carolina'' * Cesário Alexandre Minali,

OFMCap The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM ...

(born Italy) (1958.04.09 – death 1969.06.13),

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Achyraus (1955.03.01 – 1969.06.13), previously Bishop-Prelate of

Territorial Prelature of Alto Solimões A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

(Brazil) (1955.03.01 – 1958.04.09) * Marcelino Sérgio Bicego, OFMCap (first native incumbent) (1971.08.06 – 1979.10.16 ''see below''), Titular Bishop of Lydda (1971.08.06 – 1978.05.26) ;''Suffragan Bishops of Carolina'' *

Marcelino Sérgio Bicego Marcelino is a surname that originated in Spain. There are also several families with the Marcelino surname in Philippines, Portugal, and the Americas (North, Central, and South). * San Marcelino, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Zam ...

, OFMCap (''see above'' 1979.10.16 – death 1980.01.22) *

Evangelista Alcimar Caldas Magalhães Evangelista may refer to: People Given name * Evangelista Andreoli (1810–1875) was an Italian organist, pianist, and teacher * Evangelista Cittadini, Italian Roman Catholic Bishop of Alessano (1542–1549) * Evangelista da Pian di Meleto (c. ...

, OFMCap (1981.09.03 – 1990.09.12), next Prelate (later Bishop) of Alto Solimões (Brazil) (1990.09.12 – retired 2015.05.20) *

Marcelino Correr Marcelino Correr (born 11 January 1932 in Piracicaba) was a Brazilian clergyman and bishop for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Carolina The Roman Catholic Diocese of Carolina ( la, Dioecesis Carolinensis in Brasilia) is a suffragan diocese in ...

, OFMCap (1991.03.13 – retired 2003.10.15), died 2006 * José Soares Filho, OFMCap (2003.10.15 – retired 2017.07.05), also

Apostolic Administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of Diocese of Tocantinópolis (Brazil) (2008.01 – 2009.03.04); succeeded as previous

Coadjutor Bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co ...

of Carolina (2003.01.15 – 2003.10.15) *

Francisco Lima Soares Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...

(2018.11.21 -)

Coadjutor bishop

* José Soares Filho, OFMCap (2003)

Sources and external links

GCatholic.org - data for all sections

Roman Catholic dioceses in Brazil Religious organizations established in 1958 Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of São Luís do Maranhão Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century 1958 establishments in Brazil {{Brazil-RC-diocese-stub