Roman Catholic Diocese of Rancagua

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The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rancagua (in Latin: Dioecesis Rancaguensis ) is a suffragan diocese of the archdiocese of Santiago de Chile. The diocese was established on 18 October 1925 as Diócesis de Santa Cruz de Rancagua, by Pope Pius XII by means of the Bulla Apostolici Muneris Ratio. The current bishop is Mgr. Alejandro Goic Karmelic, the president of the Chilean Conference of Catholic bishops. The retired (emeritus) bishop is Mgr. Javier Prado Aránguiz SS.CC.

[edit] Diocesan statistics

The diocese comprises the three provinces of the O'Higgins Region of Chile: Cachapoal, Colchagua and Cardenal Caro, with the exception of the comuna of Navidad, of the latter province, which belongs to the diocese of Melipilla. It covers a territory of 16,042 km² and has 63 parishes. It is estimated that 80,0% of the population of the diocese are Catholic. This figure represents about 625,000 catholics out of a total population of 781,000. The diocesan cathedral is located in the city of Rancagua.

[edit] Bishops of Rancagua

Rafael Lira Infante † (14 December 1925 - 18 March 1938 appointed bishop of Valparaíso)
Eduardo Larraín Cordovez † (9 July 1938 - 2 February 1970 retired)
Alejandro Durán Moreira † (2 February 1970 - 30 May 1986 resigned)
Jorge Medina Estévez (25 November 1987 - 16 April 1993 appointed bishop of Valparaíso). He is currently a cardinal of the Catholic church and the current Cardinal protodeacon.
Francisco Javier Prado Aránguiz (16 April 1993 - 23 April 2004 retired)
Alejandro Goic Karmelic, translated from Osorno (27 October 1994 - 10 July 2003.