Country Colombia Rite Latin Rite | Ecclesiastical province Ibagué | |
 | ||
Area 15,441 km (5,962 sq mi) Population
- Total
- Catholics (as of 2006)
260,000
222,800 (85.7%) Established 8 February 1951 (66 years ago) | ||
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Florencia (Latin: Florentiae) is a diocese located in the city of Florencia, Caquetá in the ecclesiastical province of Ibagué in Colombia.
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On Saturday, April 27, 2013, Pope Francis appointed the Very Reverend Father Omar de Jesús Mejía Giraldo, a priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sonsón - Rionegro, Colombia, who up until then had been serving as rector of the national major seminary "Christ the Priest" in La Ceja, Colombia, as the sixth ordinary and fourth Bishop-elect of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Florencia.
He succeeds Bishop Jorge Alberto Ossa Soto, who had served from 2003 until his July 2011 appointment by Pope Benedict XVI as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa de Osos in Santa Rosa de Osos, Colombia.
Biography of Bishop-elect Mejia Giraldo
Bishop-elect Mejia Giraldo was born in El Santuario, Colombia, located within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sonsón - Rionegro, on January 21, 1966. He was ordained to the priesthood on November 16, 1991, having studied the requisite undergraduate philosophy and graduate theology studies at the national major seminary "Christ the Priest" in La Ceja, Colombia, the same one where he would later serve as rector.
He then earned a licentiate of sacred philosophy and religious studies (the S.P.L. degree) at the "Universidad Católica de Oriente" (Spanish: "Catholic University of the Orient") in Rionegro, Colombia, and then also a Licentiate of Sacred Theology in dogmatic theology (the S.T.L. degree) from the Pontifical Gregorian University (the Gregorian, or the "Greg") in Rome, Italy.
He has held the following positions: trainer at the diocesan seminary "Nuestra Señora"; diocesan delegate for youth ministry and vocation ministry; parochial vicar (associate pastor, or curate), in the Parish of "Nuestra Señora del Carmen", in El Carmen de Viboral, Colombia; director of the Department for pastoral care in "Universidad Católica de Oriente" (Spanish: "Catholic University of the Orient") of Rionegro, Colombia; parochial vicar of the Parish "Madre de la Sabiduría"; vice-rector of the national seminary "Christ the Priest" in La Ceja and, since 2008, rector of the national seminar on "Christ the Priest" in La Ceja.