The Roman Catholic Diocese of Barinas ( la, Dioecesis Barinensis) is a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

Latin

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, 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 Roman province, pro ...

, 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 Mérida, in western

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

's land-locked

Barinas state Barinas may refer to: Places ;Spain * Barinas (Spain) ;Venezuela * Barinas (state), one of the 23 states which make up the country * Barinas, Barinas, a city in the state of Barinas ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Barinas * Barinas Municipality, a ' ...

. 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 de Nuestra Señora del Pilar, dedicated to

Our Lady of the Pillar Our Lady of the Pillar ( es, Nuestra Señora del Pilar) is the name given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the context of the traditional belief that Mary, while living in Jerusalem, supernaturally appeared to the Apostle James the Greater in AD 4 ...

, located in the eponymous state capital Barinas.

History

* On 23 July 1965

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

established the Diocese of Barinas on territories split off from the Diocese of Calabozo and from their Metropolitan, Mérida in Venezuela. * It lost territory on 3 December 2015 to establish (part of) the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Guasdualito The Roman Catholic Diocese of Guasdualito is a young Latin Catholic suffragan diocese of the Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mérida in Venezuela in southern Venezuela's land-locked Apure State. Its cathedral episcopal see is the Marian ...

, in the same province.

Bishops

Episcopal ordinaries

;''Suffragan Bishops of Barinas'' * Rafael Angel González Ramírez (1965.07.23 – 1992.08.01) *

Antonio José López Castillo Antonio José López Castillo (July 9, 1945 – July 18, 2021) was a Venezuelan Roman Catholic priest and prelate. He served as auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Maracaibo from 1988 to 1992 and the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Di ...

(1992.08.01 – 2001.12.27) ; previously

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 ...

Theuzi Theuzi is a former ancient city and bishopric in Roman Africa and present Latin Catholic titular see. Its modern location is unclear, but is believed to have been somewhere in present Tunisia. History Aquae Novae was important enough in the Rom ...

(1988.02.26 – 1992.08.01) & Auxiliary Bishop of

Maracaibo ) , motto = "''Muy noble y leal''"(English: "Very noble and loyal") , anthem = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_alt = ...

(Venezuela) (1988.02.26 – 1992.08.01; later Metropolitan Archbishop of

Calabozo Calabozo, officially Villa de Todos los Santos de Calabozo, is a city in Venezuela located in the Guárico state, capital of the Francisco de Miranda Municipality and former capital of the state. It has a population of 168,605, according to t ...

(Venezuela) (2001.12.27 – 2007.12.22), Metropolitan Archbishop of

Barquisimeto Barquisimeto (; guc, Watkisimeeta) is a city in Venezuela. It is the capital of the state of Lara and head of Iribarren Municipality. It is an important urban, industrial, commercial and transportation center of the country, recognized as the fou ...

(Venezuela) (2007.12.22 – ...) *

Ramón Antonio Linares Sandoval Ramón or Ramon may refer to: People Given name *Ramon (footballer, born 1998), Brazilian footballer * Ramón (footballer, born 1990), Brazilian footballer *Ramón (singer), Spanish singer who represented Spain in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest ...

(2002.07.16 – retired 2013.08.30), previously Bishop of Puerto Cabello (Venezuela) (1994.07.05 – 2002.07.16); later

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 Acarigua–Araure (Venezuela) (2013.12 – 2015.08.10) * José Luis Azuaje Ayala (2013.08.30 – 2018.05.24), also Vice-President of Episcopal Conference of Venezuela (2012.01.12 – ...); previously titular Bishop of

Italica Italica ( es, Itálica) was a Roman town founded by Italic settlers in Hispania; its site is close to the town of Santiponce, part of the province of Seville in modern-day Spain. It was founded in 206 BC by Roman general Scipio as a settleme ...

(1999.03.18 – 2006.07.15) & Auxiliary Bishop of

(Venezuela) (1999.03.18 – 2006.07.15),

of El Vigía–San Carlos del Zulia (Venezuela) (2005 – 2006.07.15), promoted Bishop of El Vigía–San Carlos del Zulia (2006.07.15 – 2013.08.30); later Archbishop of Maracaibo 2018.05.24 - ...) * Jesús Alfonso Guerrero Contreras, O.F.M. Cap. (2018.12.21 - ...), previously titular Bishop of Leptiminus (1995.12.06 - 2011.04.09) & Vicar Apostolic of Caroní (1995.12.06 - 2011.04.09), Bishop of Machiques (2011.04.09 - 2018.12.21)

Auxiliary bishops

José Vicente Henriquez Andueza José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

, S.D.B. (1981-1985), appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Caracas, Santiago de Venezuela *

Alejandro Figueroa Medina 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 ( Ru ...

(1986-1995), appointed Bishop of Guanare

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

* Polito Rodríguez Méndez, appointed Bishop of San Carlos de Venezuela in 2016

Sources and external links