The Roman Catholic Diocese of Campina Grande ( la, Dioecesis Campinae Grandis) is a suffragan Latin

diocese In 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 provinces were administratively associa ...

in the

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 ...

of Paraíba, in northeastern

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 ...

. 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 ...

episcopal see is Catedral Nossa Senhora da Conceição, dedicated to the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...

, in the city of

Campina Grande Campina Grande is the second most populous Brazilian city in the State of Paraíba after João Pessoa, the capital. It is considered to be the most important city of the Northeastern Brazilian subregion called '' agreste''. It is considered one ...

. It is vacant.

History

* Established on May 14, 1949 as Diocese of Campina Grande, on territory split off from the Archdiocese of Paraíba, its Metropolitan since. * Lost territory on 1959.01.17 to establish the Diocese of Patos.

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 807,000 Catholics (87.0% of 928,000 total) on 20,051 km² in 52 parishes with 92 priests (69 diocesan, 23 religious), 1 deacon, 131 lay religious (67 brothers, 64 sisters) and 25 seminarians.

Bishops

(all

Latin Rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church '' sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once ...

)

Episcopal ordinaries

;'' Suffragan Bishops of Campina Grande'' * Anselmo Pietrulla,

Order of Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (also called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi. The order adheres to the teachi ...

(O.F.M.) (born Poland) (1949.06.18 – 1955.05.11), next Bishop of

Tubarão Tubarão (lit. "shark") is a Brazilian municipality located in southern part of Santa Catarina state. The population, according to the IBGE/2020 estimate was 106,422. It is the main city of the Tubarão River basin region, which comprises 2 ...

(Brazil) (1955.05.11 – retired 1981.09.17), died 1992; previously

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 adm ...

of then Territorial Prelature of Santarem (Brazil, now a diocese) (1941 – 1947.12.13),

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 Conana (1947.12.13 – 1949.06.18) as

Bishop-Prelate In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an Holy Orders, ordained Minister (Catholic Church), minister who holds the fullness of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, sacrament of Holy orders in the Catholic Church, holy orders and is responsible ...

of above Santarém (1947.12.13 – 1949.06.18), Apostolic Administrator of

Territorial Prelature of Macapá 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 ...

(Brazil) (1949 – 1950.01.14) * Otàvio Barbosa Aguiar (1956.02.24 – 1962.07.04) (first Brazilian incumbent), next Bishop of Palmeira dos Índios (Brazil) (1962.07.04 – retired 1978.03.29), died 2004; previously Titular Bishop of Gergis (1954.11.06 – 1956.02.24) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of São Luís do Maranhão (Brazil) (1954.11.06 – 1956.02.24) *

Manuel Pereira da Costa Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Manu ...

(1962.08.23 – retired 1981.05.20), died 2006; previously Titular Bishop of

Knin Knin (, sr, link=no, Книн, it, link=no, Tenin) is a city in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia, located in the Dalmatian hinterland near the source of the river Krka, an important traffic junction on the rail and road routes between Zagr ...

(1954.05.31 – 1959.06.20) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Paraíba (Brazil) (1954.05.31 – 1959.06.20), Bishop of Nazaré (Brazil) (1959.06.20 – 1962.08.23) * Luís Gonzaga Fernandes (1981.07.09 – 2001.08.29), died 2003; previously Titular Bishop of Mididi (1965.11.06 – 1981.07.09) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Vitória (Brazil) (1965.11.06 – 1981.07.09) * Matias Patrício de Macêdo (2001.08.29 – 2003.11.26), next Metropolitan Archbishop of

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

(Brazil) (2003.11.26 – 2011.12.21); previously Bishop of Cajazeiras (Brazil) (1990.07.12 – 2000.07.12), Coadjutor Bishop of Campina Grande (Brazil) (2000.07.12 – succession 2001.08.29) * Jaime Vieira Rocha (2005.02.16 – 2011.12.21); previously Bishop of Caicó (Brazil) (1995.11.29 – 2005.02.16); next Metropolitan Archbishop of

(Brazil) (2011.12.21 – ...) * Manoel Delson Pedreira da Cruz, Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (O.F.M.Cap.) (2012.08.08 - 2017.03.08), next Metropolitan Archbishop of Paraíba (Brazil) (2017.03.08 – ...); formerly Bishop of Caicó (Brazil) (2006.07.05 – 2012.08.08) * Dulcênio Fontes de Matos (2017.10.11 - present); previously Titular Bishop of Cozyla as Auxiliary Bishop of Aracajú (in Sergipe) (2001.04.18 - 2006.07.12), Bishop of Palmeira dos Índios (in Alagoas) (2006.07.12 - 2017.10.11)

Coadjutor bishop

* Matias Patrício de Macêdo (2001-2003)

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

* Genival Saraiva de França, appointed Bishop of Palmares, Pernambuco in 2000

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic.org, with Google map and satellite photo - data for all sections

Roman Catholic dioceses in Brazil Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Paraíba Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century Religious organizations established in 1949

1949 establishments in Brazil Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

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