The Apostolic Vicariate (or Vicariate Apostolic) of Caroní ( la, Apostolicus Vicariatus Caronensis) is a
Latin Church
, native_name_lang = la
, image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg
, imagewidth = 250px
, alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran
, caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...
missionary jurisdiction or
apostolic vicariate of the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
in
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 ...
.
It is immediately
exempt to 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 R ...
and not part of any
ecclesiastical province
An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of seve ...
. 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 denominatio ...
, Catedral de Santa Elena, is located in the
episcopal see of
Santa Elena de Uairén
Santa Elena de Uairén () is a small Venezuelan city (29,795 inhabitants in 2006) in the state of Bolívar State (Venezuela), Bolívar near the border with Brazil and Guyana. It was founded by Lucas Fernández Peña in 1923. The city's name origin ...
in Venezuela's landlocked
Bolívar state.
History
On 4 March 1922
Pope Pius XI established the Apostolic Vicariate of Caroní.
It lost territory in 1954 when the
Apostolic Vicariate of Tucupita was established.
Incumbent Ordinaries
''So far, all apostolic vicars were
Capucins (O.F.M. Cap.)''
*Benvenuto Diego Alonso y Nistal,
O.F.M. Cap. † (23 Dec. 1923 – 24 March 1938)
*Constantino Gómez Villa, O.F.M. Cap. † (14 July 1938 – 11 Oct. 1967)
*Mariano Gutiérrez Salazar, O.F.M. Cap. † (11 March 1968 – 23 Oct. 1995)
*Santiago Pérez Sánchez, O.F.M. Cap. † (28 May 1993 – 2 July 1994)
*Jesús Alfonso Guerrero Contreras, O.F.M. Cap. (6 Dec. 1995 – 9 April 2011: Appointed Bishop of
Machiques
Machiques is a city in Zulia State, Venezuela, located in the northwest portion of the country. It is close to the border with Colombia, and the area's main economic activity is cattle raising. On 16 August 2005 West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 ...
)
*Felipe González González, O.F.M. Cap. (26 May 2014 – 27 April 2021)
*Gonzalo Alfredo Ontiveros Vivas (27 April 2021 – present)
See also
*
Roman Catholicism in Venezuela
The Catholic Church in Venezuela is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. The Roman Catholic Church in Venezuela comprises nine archdioceses, three vicariates, a military ordinariate, and two ...
*
List of Catholic dioceses (structured view)
As of October 5, 2021, the Catholic Church in its entirety comprises 3,171 ecclesiastical jurisdictions, including over 652 archdioceses and 2,248 dioceses, as well as apostolic vicariates, apostolic exarchates, apostolic administrations, apo ...
References
External links
GigaCatholic, with incumbent biographies
Apostolic vicariates
Caroni
Christian organizations established in 1922
1922 establishments in Venezuela
Santa Elena de Uairén
{{Venezuela-RC-diocese-stub