Parishes 34 Rite Latin Rite Country Guatemala | Denomination Roman Catholic Area 11,810 km² Bishop Rodolfo Valenzuela Núñez | |
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Metropolitan Oscar Julio Vian Morales, S.D.B. Population
- Total
- Catholics (as of 2010)
1,318,000
1,119,000 (84.9%) Established 27 July 1921 (95 years ago) Cathedral St. Dominic Cathedral, Cobán Ecclesiastical province Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de Guatemala | ||
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Verapaz (also Vera Paz, Cobán) is a Latin suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the Archdiocese of Guatemala.
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Its cathedral episcopal see is the Catedral de Santo Domingo de Guzman, dedicated to Saint Dominic of Guzman, at Cobán, in Alta Verapaz.
History
It was erected a first time on 1561.06.21 as Diocese of Verapaz, on territory split off from the then Roman Catholic Diocese of Guatemala, as a suffragan of the Metropolitan Mexico, but was suppressed on 1603.06.23.
It was restored on 27 July 1921 albeit demoted, as the Apostolic Vicariate of Verapaz and Petén, on territory split off from the meanwhile Metropolitan Archdiocese of Guatemala, a missionary pre-diocesan jurisdiction, exempt (directly subject to the Holy See, not yet part of an ecclesiastical province).
On 14 January 1935, it was promoted as Diocese of Vera Paz, also known after its see as Diocese of Cobán. On 1951.03.10, it lost territory to establish the then Apostolic Administration of El Petén.
On Tuesday, 22 July 2014, according to the official Daily Bulletin of the Holy See Press Office for the day (which also lists papal appointments and resignations, as part of the Vatican's website), Pope Francis appointed the incumbent Bishop of Verapaz, Cobán, Rodolfo Valenzuela Nunez, to a five-year-long, renewable term as a Member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
Episcopal Ordinaries
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