BELLO HORIZONTE, ARCHDIOCESE of. — City of Brazil, at an altitude of 785 m., at the foot of the Sierra do Espinhaço, in a healthy region rich in water, capital of the State of Minas Geraes (593,810 sq. km and 8 million inhabitants). Erected as a diocese by Pope Benedict XV with the bull Pastoralis sollicitudo of 11 February 1921, with 20 municipalities and the parish of Hitiruna from the archdiocese of Marianna, as a suffragan of Marianna. It was subsequently itself elevated to an archdiocese by Pope Pius XI with the bull Ad munus Nobis of 1 February 1924, with the dioceses of Aterrado, Guaxupé and Uberabá as suffragans. The Cathedral is dedicated to Our Lady of Good Voyage.
In 1947 it had a population of approximately 1 million inhabitants and 91 parishes; 113 secular priests, 12 male and 25 female religious congregations, and 2 seminaries.