The Roman Catholic Diocese of Zárate-Campana ( la, Dioecesis Zaratensis-Campanensis) 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 A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria ...

in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United State ...

of the Archdiocese of Mercedes-Luján, in central

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

on the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

coast, having had change of metropolitan from La Plata in 2019. 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 denomination ...

episcopal see is Catedral Santa Florentina, dedicated to

Saint Florentina Florentina of Cartagena (died ca. 612) is venerated as a saint by 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 . ...

, in

Campana Campana (Italian and Spanish for "bell") may refer to: Places * Campana Partido, Argentina, a ''partido'' (administrative subdivision) in Buenos Aires Province ** Campana, Buenos Aires Province, a city in Campana Partido * Campana Island, Capit� ...

and it also has a co-cathedral: Cocatedral Natividad del Señor, dedicated to

the Nativity The nativity of Jesus, nativity of Christ, birth of Jesus or birth of Christ is described in the biblical gospels of Luke and Matthew. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judaea, his mother Mary was engaged to a man ...

of Our Lord, in

Belén de Escobar Belén de Escobar (or Escobar) is a city in the urban conurbation of Greater Buenos Aires in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the administrative seat for Escobar Partido. The city has an important Japanese Argentine population. File:Cas ...

, also in

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

History

It was created by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

on 21 April 1976, by the Papal Bulla "Qui consilio divino" as Diocese of Zárate–Campana / Zaraten(sis)–Campanen(sis) (Latin adjective), on territories split off from the Diocese of San Isidro and from the Diocese of San Nicolás de los Arroyos. The first bishop,

Claretian , image = Herb CMF.jpg , image_size = 175px , caption = Coat of arms of the Claretians , abbreviation = CMF , nickname = Claretians , formation = , founders = Anto ...

Mgr. Alfredo Mario Espósito Castro, chosen by Paul VI on 21 April 1976, received his episcopal consecration and took possession of the see on 4 July 1976.

Extent and statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 660,000 Catholics (90.7% of 728,000 total) on 5,924 km² in 33 parishes and 89 missions with 88 priests (53 diocesan, 35 religious), 13 deacons, 178 lay religious (88 brothers, 90 sisters) and 27 seminarians. It includes the cities of

(credited in its title), (Belén de) Escobar, Zarate, Baradero, Pilar, Exaltación de la Cruz and San Antonio de Areco, all in the northern part of

Greater Buenos Aires Greater Buenos Aires ( es, Gran Buenos Aires, GBA), also known as the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area ( es, Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, AMBA), refers to the urban agglomeration comprising the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the adjac ...

Bishops

Episcopal ordinaries

* Alfredo Mario Espósito Castro,

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(C.M.F.) (1976.04.21 – resigned because of health reasons on 18 December 1991), died 2010 *

Rafael Eleuterio Rey Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California * Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israeli manufacturer of weapons and military technology * Hurricane Rafael, a 2012 hurricane Fiction * ''R ...

(18 December 1991 (took see on 21 March 1992 – resigned because of health reasons 3 February 2006); previously

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 an ...

of Hilta (1983.04.30 – 1991.12.18) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Mendoza (Argentina) (1983.04.30 – 1991.12.18) * Oscar Domingo Sarlinga (3 February 2006 – retired 2015.11.03), previously Titular Bishop of

Uzalis El Alia is a town and commune in the Bizerte Governorate, Tunisia. It was the ancient Uzalis in the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis, which became a Christian bishopric that is included in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees. It is ...

(2003.04.12 – 2006.02.03) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Mercedes–Luján (Argentina) (2003.04.12 – 2006.02.03) * Pedro Maria Laxague (3 November 2015 – ...), previously Titular Bishop of

Castra Severiana Castra Severiana was an ancient Roman-era town of the Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis, in North Africa during late antiquity. The town in modern Algeria has been tentatively identified with ruins at Sidi-Ali-Ben-Joub (Chanzy) or Lalla ...

(2006.11.14 – 2015.11.03) as Auxiliary Bishop of

Archdiocese of Bahía Blanca 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 ...

(Argentina) (2006.11.14 – 2015.11.03).

Auxiliary bishop

* Justo Rodríguez Gallego (appointed 2020) (2021–

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic, with Google map & satellite photo - data for all sections
Roman Catholic dioceses in Argentina Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Mercedes-Luján

Religious organizations established in 1976 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, tran ...

Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century

1976 establishments in Argentina Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phil ...

Roman Catholic bishops of Zárate-Campana {{Argentina-RC-diocese-stub