BRAGANÇA, DIOCESE OF. — In Brazil, State of S. Paolo. The diocese was erected on 24 July 1925 by the bull Ad Sacram Petri sedem, with 10 parishes from the archdiocese of S. Paolo and 2 from the diocese of Campinas; it is suffragan to S. Paolo. The cathedral is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. On 16 March 1935, the boundaries of the diocese with those of S. Paolo and Campinas were somewhat modified. In 1947 it had 220,000 inhabitants, in a territory of 3,500 sq. km., 14 parishes, 15 priests, and 7 religious communities.
BIBL.: AAS, 19 (1927), pp. 98, 242, 368–70; 27 (1935), pp. 378–79; J. B. Lehmann, O Brasil Catolico 1947, Juiz de Fora 1947, pp. 61–64. Giovanni Meseguer