The

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Diocese of Punta Arenas (in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: ''Dioecesis Punta Arenas'') 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 ...

of the Archdiocese of Puerto Montt, in

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 ...

. Its current

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

is Mgr. Óscar Hernán Blanco Martínez, O.M.D.

History

In 1883 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 ...

established the

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 ''Patagonia Meridional, Tierra del Fuego e Islas Malvinas'', which was entrusted to the

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

congregation. In 1916, the prefecture was upgraded and its name changed to Apostolic Vicariate of ''Magallanes e Islas Malvinas'', and on 17 January 1947,

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 ...

erected the diocese proper by means of the

Bulla Bulla (Latin, 'bubble') may refer to: Science and medicine * Bulla (dermatology), a bulla * Bulla, a focal lung pneumatosis, an air pocket in the lung * Auditory bulla, a hollow bony structure on the skull enclosing the ear * Ethmoid bulla, pa ...

"''Ut in amplissimo Patagoniae Chilensis territorio''". In 1952, the

Apostolic Prefecture of the Falkland Islands The Apostolic Prefecture of Falkland Islands ( la, Apostolica Præfectura de Insulis Falkland) is a Latin Church missionary ecclesiastical jurisdiction or apostolic prefecture of the Catholic Church covering the Falkland Islands and South Georgia ...

was separated from the diocese. All the bishops of the diocese of Punta Arenas belonged to the Salesian congregation between 1916 and 2022.

Diocesan statistics

The diocese, which comprises the entire

an region of Magallanes (''Magallanes y Antártida Chilena''), covers a territory of 112,302 km². It is estimated than 79% of the inhabitants of the diocese are Catholic.Punta Arenas (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]
/ref> This figure represents about 120,000 Catholics out of a total population of 151,000. Punta Arenas is the southernmost diocese in the whole Roman Catholic Church and its parish ''Nuestra Señora del Carmen'', in

Puerto Williams Puerto Williams (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Port Williams") is the city, port and naval base on Navarino Island in Chile. It faces the Beagle Channel. It is the Capital city, capital of Antártica Chilena Province, the Chilean Antarctic Prov ...

(Navarino island), is the southernmost Catholic parish in the world. The mother church of the diocese is the Cathedral of ''El Sagrado Corazón'' (Sacred Heart) in the city of

Punta Arenas Punta Arenas (; historically Sandy Point in English) is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. The city was officially renamed as Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to "Punta Aren ...

Bishops

*Abraham Aguilera Bravo, S.D.B. † (22 December 1916 – 24 October 1924 appointed bishop of

San Carlos de Ancud Ancud () is a city in southern Chile located in the northernmost part of the island and province of Chiloé, in Los Lagos Region. It is the second largest city of Chiloé Archipelago after Castro. The city was established in 1768 to function as t ...

) *Arturo Jara Márquez, S.D.B. † (29 January 1926 – 1938 resigned) *

Cándido Rada Senosiáin Cándido is a Spanish male given name, equivalent of Portuguese Cândido. Those with the name include: * Cándido Bareiro (1833–1880), President of Paraguay * Cándido Fabré, Cuban musician * Cándido López (1840–1902), Argentine painter a ...

, S.D.B. † (13 December 1947, did not take effect) *

Vladimiro Boric Crnosija Vladimiro Américo Jorge Boric Crnosija ( hr, Vladimir Borić Crnošija; 23 April 1905 – 29 August 1973) was a Chilean cleric and bishop for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Punta Arenas. He was born to Juan "Ive" Boric and Natalia Crnosija, both ...

, S.D.B. † (1 February 1949 – 29 August 1973 died) *

Tomás Osvaldo González Morales Tomás Osvaldo González Morales (20 April 1935 – 12 February 2022) was a Chilean Roman Catholic bishop. Biography González Morales was born in Chile on 20 April 1935. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1963, before serving as bishop of the ...

, S.D.B. † (28 March 1974 – 4 March 2006 retired) *Bernardo Bastres Florence, S.D.B. (4 March 2006 – 22 December 2021 resigned) *Óscar Hernán Blanco Martínez, O.M.D. (13 July 2022 – present)

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

Alejandro Goić Karmelić Alejandro is the Spanish form of the name Alexander. Alejandro has multiple variations in different languages, including Aleksander ( Czech, Polish), Alexandre (French), Alexandros (Greek), Alsander ( Irish), Alessandro (Italian), Aleksandr ( ...

, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Concepción (Santissima Concezione)

Parishes

*Sagrado Corazón (Cathedral), Punta Arenas *María Auxiliadora, Punta Arenas *Cristo Obrero, Punta Arenas *San Miguel, Punta Arenas *Nuestra Señora de Fátima, Punta Arenas *María Auxiliadora,

Puerto Natales Puerto Natales is a city in Chilean Patagonia. It is the capital of both the commune of Natales and the province of Última Esperanza, one of the four provinces that make up the Magallanes and Antartica Chilena Region in the southernmost part ...

*San Francisco de Sales, Puerto Porvenir (

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 G ...

) *Nuestra Señora del Carmen,

(in

Navarino island Navarino Island () is a Chilean island located between Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, to the north, and Cape Horn, to the south. The island forms part of the Commune of Cabo de Hornos, the southernmost commune in Chile and in the world, belong ...

) *Padre Hurtado, Cerro Sombrero

References

External links

Website of the diocese (in Spanish, not updated)
{{authority control

Punta Arenas, Roman Catholic Diocese of Punta Arenas