The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rio Branco ( la, Dioecesis Fluminis Albi Superioris) is a Latin
suffragan see
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 ...
of the Metropolitan
Archbishop of Porto Velho (
Rondônia
Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). To the west is a short border with the state of Acre, to the north is the state of Amazonas, in the east is Mato Grosso, ...
), in the upper
Amazon River basin).
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 the Marian Catedral Nossa Senhora de Nazaré, dedicated to
Our Lady of Nazareth
Mary, the mother of Jesus in Christianity, is known by many different titles (Blessed Mother, Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Our Lady, Holy Virgin), epithets ( Star of the Sea, Queen of Heaven, Cause of Our Joy), invocations ('' Panagia'', Mother ...
, in the city of
Rio Branco,
Acre state
Acre () is a state located in the west of the North Region of Brazil and the Amazonia Legal. Located in the westernmost part of the country, at a two-hour time difference from Brasília, Acre is bordered clockwise by the Brazilian states of Am ...
,
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 ...
.
History
On 4 October 1919,
Pope Benedict XV
Pope Benedict XV (Latin: ''Benedictus XV''; it, Benedetto XV), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, name=, group= (; 21 November 185422 January 1922), was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his death in January 1922. His ...
established the
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 Acre and Purus (Italian Acre e Purus), named after the
Amazonia
The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...
n rivers
Acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imp ...
and
Purus, on canonical territory split off from the then
Diocese of Amazonas.
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 ...
changed the name of the prelature to the Territorial Prelature of São Peregrino Laziosi no Alto Acre e Alto Purus on 10 December 1926, but its original name was restored on 26 April 1958 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 ...
.
The territorial prelature was elevated to a bishopric and hence renamed after its see as Diocese of Rio Branco by
Saint John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
on 15 February 1986.
Statistics
As per 2014, it pastorally serves 443,000 Catholics (75.1% of 589,625 total) on 104,473 km
2 in 32 parishes and 5 missions with 33 priests (23 diocesan, 10 religious), 22 deacons, 105 lay religious (19 brothers, 86 sisters) and 18 seminarians.
Ordinaries
(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 ...
)
Territorial Bishop-Prelates of Acre and Purus
*
Geraldo Van Caloen Geraldo may refer to:
* Geraldo (bandleader) (1904–1974), English bandleader
* ''Geraldo'' (talk show), a daytime television tabloid talk show
** Geraldo Rivera, American television personality and host of ''Geraldo''
* Geraldo Rocha Pereir ...
,
O.S.B.
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, found ...
(12 March 1906 13 Dec 1907 (resigned)),
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
Phocæa
Phocaea or Phokaia (Ancient Greek: Φώκαια, ''Phókaia''; modern-day Foça in Turkey) was an ancient Ionian Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia. Greek colonists from Phocaea founded the colony of Massalia (modern-day Marseille, in ...
(12 March 1906 16 January 1932 (died)); later
Abbot nullius
A territorial abbey (or territorial abbacy) is a particular church of the Catholic Church comprising defined territory which is not part of a diocese but surrounds an abbey or monastery whose abbot or superior functions as ordinary for all Ca ...
of
Nossa Senhora do Monserrate do Rio de Janeiro
''Nossa'' is a genus of moths in the family Epicopeiidae. The genus was described by William Forsell Kirby in 1892.
Species
*''Nossa alpherakii'' ( Herz, 1904)
*''Nossa moorei'' ( Elwes, 1890)
*''Nossa nagaensis'' ( Elwes, 1890)
*''Nossa nelcinn ...
(Brazil) (13 December 1907 18 May 1915)
* Próspero Gustavo Bernardi,
Servite Order
The Servite Order, officially known as the Order of Servants of Mary ( la, Ordo Servorum Beatae Mariae Virginis; abbreviation: OSM), is one of the five original Catholic mendicant orders. It includes several branches of friars (priests and brothe ...
(O.S.M.) (15 December 1919 10 December 1926 (see below)), Titular Bishop of
Paltus :''Paltus may also refer to a Russian Kilo class submarine''
Paltus or Paltos ( el, Πάλτος) is a ruined city. It was also a bishopric, a suffragan of Seleucia Pieria in the Roman province of Syria Prima, that, no longer being a residential ...
(15 December 1919 1 February 1944 (died))
Territorial Bishop-Prelates of São Peregrino Laziosi no Alto Acre e Alto Purus
* Próspero M. Gustavo Bernardi, (O.S.M.) ((see above) 10 December 1926 1 February 1944 (died))
*''
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 ...
Father Antônio Julio Maria Mattioli,
Society of Mary (S.M.) (1941 10 January 1948 (see below))
* Antônio Julio Maria Mattioli, O.S.M. ((see above) 10 January 1948 13 April 1962 (see below)), Titular Bishop of
Lacedæmonia (10 January 1948 13 April 1962 (died))
Territorial Bishop-Prelates of Acre and Purus
* Antônio Julio Maria Mattioli, S.M. ((see above) 26 April 1958 13 April 1962 (died))
* Giocondo Maria Grotti, O.S.M. (16 November 1962 28 September 1971 (died)), Titular Bishop of
Thunigaba (8 July 1965 28 September 1971)
*
Moacyr Grechi
Moacyr Grechi (19 January 1936 – 17 June 2019) was a Brazilian Roman Catholic archbishop.
Career
Grechi was born in Brazil and was ordained to the priesthood in 1961. He served as bishop-prelate of the Territorial Prelature of Acre and Pur ...
, O.S.M. (10 July 1972 15 February 1986 (see below)), Titular Bishop of
Vegesela in Numidia {{short description, Former Roman city and modern titular see in North Africa
Vegesela (in Numidia) was an ancient city and former episcopal see in Roman North Africa and remains a Latin Church titular see of the Catholic Church.
Its present locat ...
(20 July 1973 26 May 1978 (died))
Suffragan Bishops of Rio Branco
* Moacyr Grechi, O.S.M. ((see above) 15 February 1986 29 July 1998), next Archbishop of Rio Branco's Metropolitan see
Porto Velho (Brazil) (29 July 1998 30 November 2011 (retired))
*
Joaquín Pertíñez Fernández,
Order of Augustinian Recollects
The Order of Augustinian Recollects (OAR) is a mendicant Catholic religious order of friars and nuns. It is a reformist offshoot from the Augustinian hermit friars and follows the same Rule of St. Augustine.
History
The Order was founded in 16t ...
(O.A.R.) (24 February 1999 present), no prior office
See also
*
List of Catholic dioceses in Brazil
This list of Catholic dioceses and archdioceses of Brazil which includes both the dioceses of the Latin Church, which employ the Latin liturgical rites, and various other dioceses, primarily the eparchies of the Eastern Catholic Churches, which em ...
References
Sources and external links
GCatholic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rio Branco, Roman Catholic Diocese
Roman Catholic dioceses in Brazil
Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Porto Velho
Rio Branco
Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century
Religious organizations established in 1919