CARATINGA, DIOCESE OF. — In the state of Minas Geraes in Brazil, it extends through the so-called zona da mata, a region in the eastern part of the state, exceptionally rich in mountains and forests and highly suitable for agriculture and livestock raising. It belongs to the ecclesiastical province of Mariana.
It has an area of approximately 21,000 sq. km.; a population of 620,000, of whom 600,000 are Catholics; 302 churches, 32 parishes, 29 diocesan priests, and 17 religious priests (1948). Its titular is St. John the Baptist. C. lies 530 metres above sea level; it has been a city since 1882 and has 117,000 inhabitants in its municipality.
The history of the diocese is closely bound up with that of the archdiocese of Mariana, from which it was separated by the bull Pastorale Romani Pontificis officium of 15 December 1915, issued by Benedict XV. Mons. Mamede da Silva Leite, its first bishop-elect, resigned before assuming its government. Manuel Nogueira Duarte, the second bishop, likewise resigned before being consecrated. The diocese therefore did not begin to be regularly governed until its third bishop, Carloto Fernandes da Silva Távora (1920–34).