The Roman Catholic Diocese of Villarrica del Espíritu Santo ( la, Dioecesis Villaricensis Spiritus Sancti) is a

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 ...

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 the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Asunción, which cover all and only

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 ...

. 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 Santa Clara, dedicated to

Saint Clara Clare of Assisi (born Chiara Offreduccio and sometimes spelled Clara, Clair, Claire, Sinclair; 16 July 1194 – 11 August 1253) was an Italian saint and one of the first followers of Francis of Assisi. She founded the Order of Poor Ladies, ...

, in the city of Villarrica, Guairá Department.

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 342,000 Catholics (99.7% of 343,000 total) on 13,342 km² in 35 parishes, 43 priests (39 diocesan, 4 religious), 65 deacons, 89 lay religious (13 brothers, 76 sisters), 27 seminarians.

History

* On May 1, 1929, the Diocese of Villarrica was established on territory split off from the then

Roman Catholic Diocese of Paraguay Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

* It lost territories thrice : on 1957.01.19 to establish Diocese of San Juan Bautista, on 1957.01.21 to establish Territorial Prelature of Encarnación y Alto Paraná (now a diocese) and on 1978.06.05 to establish Diocese of Carapeguá. * It enjoyed a

Papal visit Papal travel outside Rome has been historically rare, and voluntary travel of the pope was non-existent for the first 500 years. Pope John Paul II (1978–2005) undertook more pastoral trips than all his predecessors combined. Pope Francis (2013� ...

from

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

in May 1988. * On January 13, 1990, the diocese was renamed, or more precisely given an alternative name, as Diocese of Villarrica del Espíritu Santo (avoiding confusing with its Chilean namesake)

Bishops

(all Roman Rite and natives)

Episcopal Ordinaries

;''Suffragan Bishops of Villarrica'' * Augustin Rodríguez (October 19, 1931 – December 7, 1965), next

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 Castellum Tingitii (1965.12.07 – 1968.12.25) as

Military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

Vicariate of

(1965.12.07 – death 1968.12.25) * Felipe Santiago Benítez Avalos (December 4, 1965 – May 20, 1989), also President of Episcopal Conference of Paraguay (1973 – 1985), First Vice-President of Latin American Episcopal Council (1983 – 1987); previously Titular Bishop of Chersonesus in Europa (1961.08.10 – 1965.12.04) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Asunción (Paraguay) (1961.08.10 – 1965.12.04); later Metropolitan Archbishop of Asunción (Paraguay) (1989.05.20 – retired 2002.06.15), President of Episcopal Conference of Paraguay (1989 – 1990), died 2009 ** Auxiliary Bishop : Angel Nicolás Acha Duarte (1975.12.22 – 1978.06.05),

of Lamdia (1975.12.22 – 1978.06.05); later Bishop of

Carapeguá Carapeguá (, '' Guaraní: Karapegua'') is a city and ''district'' of the Paraguarí Department, Paraguay, located 84 km from Asunción. It was founded in 1725. Settled by the Caañabé river and over the Route 1 "Mariscal Francisco Solano ...

(Paraguay) (1978.06.05 – death 1982.06.24) ;''Suffragan Bishops of Villarrica (del Espíritu Santo) *

Sebelio Peralta Álvarez Sebelio Peralta Álvarez (September 19, 1939 – November 19, 2014) was a Roman Catholic bishop. Ordained to the priesthood in 1964, Peralta Álvarez was named auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Villarrica, Paraguay Parag ...

(April 19, 1990 – December 27, 2008), previously

of Iunca in Mauretania (1979.03.05 – 1990.04.19) as Auxiliary Bishop of Villarrica (1979.03.05 – succession 1990.04.19); later Bishop of San Lorenzo (Paraguay) (2008.12.27 – death 2014.11.19) * Ricardo Jorge Valenzuela Rios (25 June 2010 – 29 June 2017), 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 Ciudad del Este (Paraguay) (2014.09.25 – 2014.11.15), Vice-President of Episcopal Conference of Paraguay (2015.11.03 – ...); previously Titular Bishop of Casæ Calanæ (1993.11.27 – 2003.05.24) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Asunción (Paraguay) (1993.11.27 – 2003.05.24),

Military Ordinary A military ordinariate is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic Church, of the Latin or an Eastern church, responsible for the pastoral care of Catholics serving in the armed forces of a nation. Until 1986, they were called "military ...

(2003.05.24 – 2010.06.25); later Bishop of Caacupé (Paraguay) (2017.06.29 – ...) *

Adalberto Martínez Flores Adalberto Martínez Flores (born 8 July 1951) is a Paraguayan prelate of the Catholic Church who was named as the Archbishop of Asunción in 2022. He has been a bishop since 1997. Flores was created a cardinal by Pope Francis at a consistory o ...

(23 June 2018 - ...), previously Titular Bishop of Tatilti (1997.08.14 – 2000.05.18) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Asunción (Paraguay) (1997.08.14 – 2000.05.18), Bishop of San Lorenzo (Paraguay) (2000.05.18 – 2007.02.19), Bishop of San Pedro (Paraguay) (2007.02.19 - 2012.03.14),

(2012.03.14 – 2018.06.23).

Auxiliary bishops

* Angel Nicolás Acha Duarte (1975-1978), appointed Bishop of Carapeguá * Sebelio Peralta Alvarez (1979-1990), appointed Bishop here

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

* Amancio Francisco Benítez Candia, appointed Bishop of Benjamín Aceval in 2018

Sources and external links

GCatholic.org - data for all sections

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villarrica del Espiritu Santo, Roman Catholic Diocese Roman Catholic dioceses in Paraguay Religious organizations established in 1929 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Asunción Guairá Department Villarrica