Roman Catholic Diocese of Campina Grande

Diocese of Campina Grande Dioecesis Campinae Grandis
Location
Country	Brazil
Ecclesiastical province	Paraíba
Statistics
Area	20,451 km2 (7,896 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2003) 830,118 720,000 (86.7%)
Information
Rite	Latin Rite
Established	14 May 1949 (75 years ago)
Cathedral	Catedral Nossa Senhora da Conceição
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Dulcênio Fontes de Matos
Metropolitan Archbishop	Manoel Delson Pedreira da Cruz, O.F.M.Cap.
Website
www.diocesedecampinagrande.org

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Campina Grande (Latin: Dioecesis Campinae Grandis) is a suffragan Latin diocese in the Ecclesiastical province of Paraíba, in northeastern Brazil.

Its cathedral episcopal see is Catedral Nossa Senhora da Conceição, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, in the city of Campina Grande.

It is vacant.

History

• Established on May 14, 1949 as Diocese of Campina Grande, on territory split off from the Archdiocese of Paraíba, its Metropolitan since.
• Lost territory on 1959.01.17 to establish the Diocese of Patos.

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 807,000 Catholics (87.0% of 928,000 total) on 20,051 km² in 52 parishes with 92 priests (69 diocesan, 23 religious), 1 deacon, 131 lay religious (67 brothers, 64 sisters) and 25 seminarians.

Bishops

(all Latin Rite)

Episcopal ordinaries

Suffragan Bishops of Campina Grande

• Anselmo Pietrulla, Order of Friars Minor (O.F.M.) (born Poland) (1949.06.18 – 1955.05.11), next Bishop of Tubarão (Brazil) (1955.05.11 – retired 1981.09.17), died 1992; previously Apostolic Administrator of then Territorial Prelature of Santarem (Brazil, now a diocese) (1941 – 1947.12.13), Titular Bishop of Conana (1947.12.13 – 1949.06.18) as Bishop-Prelate of above Santarém (1947.12.13 – 1949.06.18), Apostolic Administrator of Territorial Prelature of Macapá (Brazil) (1949 – 1950.01.14)
• Otàvio Barbosa Aguiar (1956.02.24 – 1962.07.04) (first Brazilian incumbent), next Bishop of Palmeira dos Índios (Brazil) (1962.07.04 – retired 1978.03.29), died 2004; previously Titular Bishop of Gergis (1954.11.06 – 1956.02.24) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of São Luís do Maranhão (Brazil) (1954.11.06 – 1956.02.24)
• Manuel Pereira da Costa (1962.08.23 – retired 1981.05.20), died 2006; previously Titular Bishop of Knin (1954.05.31 – 1959.06.20) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Paraíba (Brazil) (1954.05.31 – 1959.06.20), Bishop of Nazaré (Brazil) (1959.06.20 – 1962.08.23)
• Luís Gonzaga Fernandes (1981.07.09 – 2001.08.29), died 2003; previously Titular Bishop of Mididi (1965.11.06 – 1981.07.09) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Vitória (Brazil) (1965.11.06 – 1981.07.09)
• Matias Patrício de Macêdo (2001.08.29 – 2003.11.26), next Metropolitan Archbishop of Natal (Brazil) (2003.11.26 – 2011.12.21); previously Bishop of Cajazeiras (Brazil) (1990.07.12 – 2000.07.12), Coadjutor Bishop of Campina Grande (Brazil) (2000.07.12 – succession 2001.08.29)
• Jaime Vieira Rocha (2005.02.16 – 2011.12.21); previously Bishop of Caicó (Brazil) (1995.11.29 – 2005.02.16); next Metropolitan Archbishop of Natal (Brazil) (2011.12.21 – ...)
• Manoel Delson Pedreira da Cruz, Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (O.F.M.Cap.) (2012.08.08 - 2017.03.08), next Metropolitan Archbishop of Paraíba (Brazil) (2017.03.08 – ...); formerly Bishop of Caicó (Brazil) (2006.07.05 – 2012.08.08)
• Dulcênio Fontes de Matos (2017.10.11 - present); previously Titular Bishop of Cozyla as Auxiliary Bishop of Aracajú (in Sergipe) (2001.04.18 - 2006.07.12), Bishop of Palmeira dos Índios (in Alagoas) (2006.07.12 - 2017.10.11)

Coadjutor bishop

• Matias Patrício de Macêdo (2001-2003)

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

• Genival Saraiva de França, appointed Bishop of Palmares, Pernambuco in 2000

See also

• List of Catholic dioceses in Brazil

Sources and external links

• GCatholic.org, with Google map and satellite photo - data for all sections
• Catholic Hierarchy