CAMPINAS, Diocese of. - In the State of São Paulo (Brazil), suffragan of the archdiocese of São Paulo.
It has a territory of 6,999 sq km, with a population of 88,460 inhabitants, of whom 577,280 are Catholics; 350 churches, 44 parishes, 59 diocesan priests and 57 regulars (1948). There is a minor seminary. Patroness: the Immaculate Conception.
The city of C., at the center of a fertile plateau, with a temperate climate, is a very important road junction, a commercial, industrial and agricultural center, with many cultural institutes; it is the third city of the State, with 140,000 inhabitants. It is located 860 meters above sea level. C. arose under the name of São Carlos from a village founded in 1774, a name that remained with it until its elevation to city status in 1842. Toward the end of the imperial era, it was the center of republican propaganda and subsequently exercised considerable political influence in the interior of the state.
The bull Dioecesium nimiam amplitudinem of 7 June 1908, which created the ecclesiastical province of São Paulo, established it as one of the five new dioceses into which the ancient territory of the vast diocese was divided. Its first bishop was Msgr. João Correia Nery (1908-20), to whom the city erected a monument.
The cathedral of C. is notable for its woodwork. There are other fine churches in the diocese, though modern. C. is the birthplace of the greatest Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Gomes (d. 1896).
Bibliography3 works
Maurilio Cesar de Lima