Diocese of La Serena

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(De Serena, Serenopolitana).

Embracing Atacama and Coquimbo provinces (Chile), suffragan of Santiago, erected 1 July, 1840. The boundaries of the diocese were definitively established on 26 March, 1844; on 5 June, 1844, the first bishop, José Agustín de la Sierra, was installed. Mgr. Jara, fifth bishop, was appointed on 31 August, 1909. The diocesan territory exceeds 60,000 square miles, with a population (Catholic) of about 250,000. There are 64 secular, 35 regular priests; 30 parishes; 145 churches and chapels. The town of La Serena, with about 20,000 inhabitants, has 20 churches (including an imposing cathedral, erected 1844-60); boasts a seminary with 160 students; affords good educational facilities — an orphan asylum, lazaretto, and foundling home. Sisters of Mercy, of the Good Shepherd, and of the Congregation of Piepus are active.

About this page

APA citation. MacAuley, P. (1912). Diocese of La Serena. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13726e.htm

MLA citation. MacAuley, Patrick. "Diocese of La Serena." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13726e.htm>.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. February 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, D.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.

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