CARONI, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE of. – The evangelization of the territory of C. (Venezuela) was begun in 1687 by a group of Capuchins from the island of Trinidad, where the Spanish colonial governor resided. After several years of fruitless work, these first missionaries had to leave the region because of the unhealthy climate and the aversion that the Indians, irritated by the mistreatment inflicted by the conquerors, felt toward the whites. In 1727 the Capuchins of the province of Catalonia arrived in C.: protected by King Philip V of Spain and provided with a small annual subsidy, they soon succeeded in founding several mission stations. By the end of the eighteenth century, the territory had become almost entirely Catholic.
The mission was completely destroyed by the Venezuelan war of independence in the nineteenth century, during which almost all the religious and a considerable number of Christians perished. Reconstruction work was resumed in 1918 by the Capuchins of Castile, and in 1922 the territory of C., which had always remained under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Guayana, was erected as an apostolic vicariate and entrusted to the Capuchin province of Castile.
The mission’s statistics may be summarized as follows: area, 150,000 sq. km.; inhabitants, 82,305, of whom 78,200 were Catholics, 3,000 pagans, and the remainder Protestants; Capuchin missionaries, 18; lay brothers, 8; Capuchin tertiary sisters, 15; Franciscan tertiary sisters, 6; catechists, 137; teachers, 156; parishes, 10; mission stations, 301; churches, 12; chapels, 40. Schools: 193 elementary schools with more than 9,000 pupils, one secondary school with 19 pupils, and one teachers’ college with 28 pupils. Hospitals, 11, with 291 beds; pharmacies, 34; orphanages, 6. There are also various lay religious confraternities and charitable associations.