The Vicariate Apostolic of Pilcomayo ( la, Apostolicus Vicariatus Pilcomayoënsis) 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 territory 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 ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

. It is 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 ...

, specifically the Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and is 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 episcopal see is the (Marian) Catedral Santa María, in

Mariscal Estigarribia Mariscal Estigarribia () is a town in the Boquerón Department, Paraguay. Strategic importance Mariscal Estigarribia is home to Dr. Luis Maria Argaña International Airport (IATA code: ESG), which some media reports claim is a US military ...

an area around national capital

Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay o ...

Boquerón department Boquerón may refer to: * Boquerón, Cuba * Boquerón, Las Piedras, Puerto Rico *Boquerón, Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico * Boquerón Bay, Puerto Rico * Boquerón, Chiriquí, Panama * Boquerón Department, Paraguay * Boquerón (island), an island in the Ar ...

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally cared for 41,400 Catholics (46.5% of 89,000 total) on 125,000 km² in 6 parishes and 3 missions with 11 priests (3 diocesan, 8 religious), 32 lay religious (12 brothers, 20 sisters) and 4 seminarians.

History

On 14 July 1950, Pope Pius XII 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 Pilcomayo, on Andean territory named after the

Pilcomayo River Pilcomayo (in Hispanicized spelling) (Quechua Pillkumayu or Pillku Mayu, ''pillku'' red, ''mayu'' river, "red river", Guarani Ysyry Araguay ) is a river in central South America. At long, it is the longest western tributary of the Paraguay River ...

, split off from the

Apostolic Vicariate of Camiri The Vicariate Apostolic of Camiri ( la, Apostolicus Vicariatus Pandoënsis) is a Latin Church missionary ecclesiastical territory or apostolic vicariate of the Catholic Church in Bolivia. Its cathedra is found in the Cathedral of St. Francis of ...

. It lost territory on 1 May 1929 with the creation of the Diocese of Concepción y Chaco. Pope Pius XII elevated the prefecture to Apostolic Vicariate of Pilcomayo on 14 July 1950, thus entitling it to a

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 ...

. It lost territory again on 28 June 1980 when the Diocese of Benjamín Aceval was created.

Ordinaries

;''Apostolic Prefects of Pilcomayo'' * Father Giuseppe Rose,

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest born in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on August 1, ...

(O.M.I.) (1925 – death 1927) * Enrico Breuer, O.M.I. (1927 – death 1932) ;''Apostolic Vicars of Pilcomayo'' * Karl Walter Vervoort, O.M.I. (born Germany) (27 February 1932 – retired 24 August 1962),

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 ...

of Barica (1950.07.15 – death 1979.07.12) * Sinforiano Lucas Rojo, O.M.I. (born Spain) (24 August 1962 – retired 24 Jan 1981), Titular Bishop of Boreum (1962.08.24 – death 1990.05.04) * Pedro Shaw, O.M.I. (born Belgium) (22 April 1981 – death 21 June 1984), Titular Bishop of

Crepedula Crepedula was an ancient Roman–Berber civitas in the province of Byzacena in Africa Proconsularis. It was located in modern Tunisia. The town was also the seat of a Catholic diocese. There are three known bishops of this diocese. * The Catholic ...

(1981.04.22 – 1984.06.21) * Lucio Alfert, O.M.I. (born Germany) (24 January 1986 – ...), Titular Bishop of Tubyza (1986.01.24 – ...)

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic, with Google satellite photo - data for all sections
Apostolic vicariates Roman Catholic dioceses in Paraguay

Religious organizations established in 1950 Religion is usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, tra ...

1950 establishments in Paraguay {{Paraguay-RC-diocese-stub

Statistics

History

Ordinaries

See also

References

Sources and external links