The Roman Catholic Diocese of Carolina ( la, Dioecesis Carolinensis in Brasilia) is a suffragan diocese 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 São Luís do Maranhão in northeastern Brazil's Maranhão state. 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 São Pedro de Alcântara, dedicated to Saint Peter of Alcantara, in the city of Carolina, Maranhão.

History

* 14 January 1958: Established as Territorial Prelature of Carolina, on territory split off from the

Diocese of Rio Preto 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 associate ...

* 16 October 1979: Promoted as Diocese of Carolina * Lost territory on 1987.06.27 to establish Diocese of Imperatriz

Statistics

As per 2015, it pastorally served 158,100 Catholics (89.9% of 175,800 total) on 18,252 km² in 11 parishes and 1 mission with 12 priests (diocesan), 2 lay religious (2 sisters) and 4 seminarians.

Bishops

(all Roman Rite)

Episcopal ordinaries

;''Territorial Bishop-Prelates of Carolina'' * Cesário Alexandre Minali, OFMCap (born Italy) (1958.04.09 – death 1969.06.13),

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 Achyraus (1955.03.01 – 1969.06.13), previously

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 ...

Territorial Prelature of Alto Solimões 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 a ...

(Brazil) (1955.03.01 – 1958.04.09) * Marcelino Sérgio Bicego, OFMCap (first native incumbent) (1971.08.06 – 1979.10.16 ''see below''), Titular Bishop of

Lydda Lod ( he, לוד, or fully vocalized ; ar, اللد, al-Lidd or ), also known as Lydda ( grc, Λύδδα), is a city southeast of Tel Aviv and northwest of Jerusalem in the Central District of Israel. It is situated between the lower Sheph ...

(1971.08.06 – 1978.05.26) ;''Suffragan Bishops of Carolina'' *

Marcelino Sérgio Bicego Marcelino is a surname that originated in Spain. There are also several families with the Marcelino surname in Philippines, Portugal, and the Americas (North, Central, and South). * San Marcelino, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Zam ...

, OFMCap (''see above'' 1979.10.16 – death 1980.01.22) *

Evangelista Alcimar Caldas Magalhães Evangelista may refer to: People Given name * Evangelista Andreoli (1810–1875) was an Italian organist, pianist, and teacher * Evangelista Cittadini, Italian Roman Catholic Bishop of Alessano (1542–1549) * Evangelista da Pian di Meleto (c. ...

, OFMCap (1981.09.03 – 1990.09.12), next Prelate (later Bishop) of Alto Solimões (Brazil) (1990.09.12 – retired 2015.05.20) *

Marcelino Correr Marcelino Correr (born 11 January 1932 in Piracicaba) was a Brazilian clergyman and bishop for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Carolina The Roman Catholic Diocese of Carolina ( la, Dioecesis Carolinensis in Brasilia) is a suffragan diocese in ...

, OFMCap (1991.03.13 – retired 2003.10.15), died 2006 * José Soares Filho, OFMCap (2003.10.15 – retired 2017.07.05), also

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 Diocese of Tocantinópolis (Brazil) (2008.01 – 2009.03.04); succeeded as previous Coadjutor Bishop of Carolina (2003.01.15 – 2003.10.15) * Francisco Lima Soares (2018.11.21 -)

Coadjutor bishop

* José Soares Filho, OFMCap (2003)

Sources and external links