CARATINGA, DIOCESE OF. — In the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil, it extends across the so-called *zona da mata*, the eastern part of the state, very rich in mountains and forests and highly suitable for agriculture and livestock farming. It belongs to the ecclesiastical province of Mariana.
It has an area of approximately 21,000 sq. km.; a population of 620,000 inhabitants, of whom 600,000 are Catholic; 302 churches, 32 parishes, 29 diocesan priests and 17 religious (1948). Its titular is St. John the Baptist. Caratinga is situated at an altitude of 530 meters above sea level; it has been a city since 1882 and has 117,000 inhabitants within its municipal boundaries.
The history of the diocese is intertwined with that of the archdiocese of Mariana, from which it was separated by the bull *Pastoralis Romani Pontificis officii* of 15 December 1915 issued by Benedict XV. Msgr. Mamede da Silva Leite, its first elected bishop, resigned before taking possession. Manuel Nogueira Duarte, the second bishop, likewise resigned before being consecrated. The diocese therefore began to be governed regularly only with the third bishop, Carloto Fernandes da Silva Tavora (1920–34).