CALABOZO, DIOCESE of. — In the Republic of Venezuela, State of Guárico, suffragan of Santiago del Venezuela. Founded on 7 March 1863, it received its first bishop only in 1880.
The diocese includes, in addition to the State of Guárico, part of the States of Apure, Zamora, Portuguesa, and Cojedes, with a Catholic population of 198,000; it possesses about seventy churches and chapels and a minor seminary (students of philosophy and theology are sent to the seminary of Caracas). It has 20 parishes; the clergy consists of 20 secular priests and 5 regular priests (1948). Among the religious monuments, the Cathedral and the church of Las Mercedes deserve special mention.
BIBL.: N. E. Navarro, Anales eclesiásticos venezolanos, Caracas 1929. Pietro Gómez