BOTUCATU, DIOCESE OF. — In Brazil, in the State of São Paulo. Erected on 7 June 1908 from territory taken from the vast Diocese of São Paulo, of which it is now a suffragan see. Successively, territories have been detached from Botucatu to form other dioceses, including Sorocaba (q.v.), Cafelândia (q.v.), Assis (q.v.) and part of Santos (q.v.). Its boundaries with the Diocese of Corocaba were modified in 1925 and 1932. Botucatu now covers 17,000 sq km and has a population of 450,000, of whom 400,000 are Catholic, served by 34 parishes, 30 diocesan priests and 39 regular clergy.
BIBL.: Acta Pontificia, VII (1909), pp. 170–81; AAS, 17 (1925), pp. 498–500; 19 (1927), pp. 243, 370–72; 23 (1930), pp. 155–57; 24 (1932), p. 118; S. Ruiz, s.V. in DHG, IX, col. 1433.