The Roman Catholic Diocese of Ciudad del Este () is a

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, 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 Roman province, prov ...

of the Roman Catholic Church based in the city of

Ciudad del Este Ciudad del Este (, Spanish for Eastern City; often shortened as CDE) is the second-largest city in Paraguay and capital of the Alto Paraná Department, situated on the Paraná River. It is located 327 km east of Asunción, the capital, and i ...

, in the

Ecclesiastical Province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

Asunción Asunción (, ) 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 of Asunción in the north ...

in Paraguay.

History

On March 25, 1968, the

Territorial Prelature A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

of Alto Paraná was established from the Territorial Prelature of Encarnación y Alto Paraná. On July 10, 1993, the territorial prelature was established as the Diocese of Alto Paraná. On February 3, 2001, the diocese as renamed as the Diocese of Ciudad del Este. On February 10, 2024, the diocese lost territory to form the Diocese of Canindeyú. In 2014,

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

dismissed the diocese's bishop, Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano, due to Livieres's alleged promotion of a diocesan

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

who had been accused of the sexual abuse of a minor while serving in the United States. Livieres was then barred from presiding at public celebrations of the

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

. Since then, accusations of major financial mismanagement of the finances of the diocese by Livieres have also surfaced, with the diocese reportedly close to a million United States dollars in debt.

Leadership

References

Notes

Roman Catholic dioceses in Paraguay Christian organizations established in 1968 Ciudad del Este Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century Ciudad del Este, Roman Catholic Diocese of {{Paraguay-RC-diocese-stub