BAHIA BLANCA, DIOCESI di. – In Argentina, in the province of Buenos Aires. Erected on 20 April 1934 with 34 parishes: 32 in the civil province of Buenos Aires and 2 for the 11 districts in the southern part of the governorate of La Pampa; suffragan of La Plata. It has an area of 167,066 sq. km., with 530,000 inhabitants, of whom 500,000 are Catholics. At present it numbers 46 parishes, 42 diocesan priests, and 45 religious (1948).
BIBL.: AAS, 26 (1934), p. 558; 27 (1935), pp. 237–63; Anuario Cattólico Argentino 1935, Buenos Aires 1935, pp. 440–441; ibid. 1939, ivi 1939, pp. 390–97. Giovanni Meseguer