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.
La Serena, Diocese of
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APA citation. MacAuley, P. (1912). Diocese of La Serena. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. https://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. <https://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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