Catholic Church in Bolivia

La Paz cathedral

The Roman Catholic Church in Bolivia is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. Catholicism was introduced in the 1530s, and the first diocese was established in 1552. Evangelization among the Indians bore much fruit from the mid-18th to early 19th century, resuming again in 1840. The country declared independence from Spain in 1825.

Today, Bolivia is a predominantly Catholic country. Although the Church was disestablished as the state religion in early 2009,^[1] relations between Church and state are guided by a concordat signed with the Holy See in 1951. There are about seven million Catholics out of a total population of nine million.

Organization

There are seventeen territorial jurisdictions in the country—four archdiocese, six dioceses, and five apostolic vicariates and two Territorial Prelatures:

• Archdiocese of Cochabamaba
  • Diocese of Oruro
  • Territorial Prelature of Aiquile
• Archdiocese of La Paz
  • Diocese of Coroico
  • Diocese of El Alto
  • Territorial Prelature of Corocoro
• Archdiocese of Santa Cruz de la Sierra
  • Diocese of San Ignacio de Velasco
• Archdiocese of Sucre
  • Diocese of Potosí
  • Diocese of Tarija
• Apostolic Vicariates:
  • Camiri
  • El Beni
  • Ñuflo de Chávez
  • Pando
  • Reyes

See also

• Catholic Church by country

References

1. ↑ Temperman, Jeroen (2010). State-Religion Relationships and Human Rights Law: Towards a Right to Religiously Neutral Governance. BRILL. p. 35. ISBN 978-9004181489. Retrieved 12 July 2014.