BARRA DO PIRAÍ, DIOCESI di. — In Brazil, State of Rio de Janeiro; erected on 4 December 1922 from parishes of the diocese of Nictheroy, suffragan of S. Sebastiano di Rio de Janeiro. In the bull of erection, instead of canons, provision was made for diocesan consultors to be appointed temporarily. The cathedral is dedicated to s. Anna. On 27 March 1925, 13 parishes were separated to form the diocese of Valença; it currently comprises 22 parishes.
The diocese has 350,000 inhabitants, of whom 300,000 are Catholics, over an area of 10,000 sq. km.; it has 22 diocesan priests and 17 religious priests.
BIBL.: AAS. 15 (1923), pp. 485-87; 16 (1924), p. 132; 17 (1925), pp. 516-19, 648; 27 (1935), p. 504; O Brasil Católico, Guiz de Fora 1947, pp. 30-34. Giovanni Meseguer