CATAMARCA, DIOCESE of. — Capital city of the province of the same name in the Argentine Republic; the city was founded in 1683 by Fernando Mendoza Mate de Luna, governor of Tucuman, under the name of S. Fernando del Valle de C. The diocese was erected on 21 January 1910; it covers an area of 120,799 sq. km. and is suffragan to Salta.
It has 16 parishes, 36 diocesan priests and 17 religious priests, and a seminary; out of a population of 145,216 inhabitants, 143,000 are Catholics. The first bishop was Mons. R. Piedrabuena. The Cathedral is dedicated to the Most Holy Virgin of the Valley, who is greatly venerated. Other churches are those of S. Francesco, with a Baroque façade, the Carmine, the Good Shepherd, etc. On 22 May 1920, the territory of the Andes was detached from C. and united to the diocese of Salta.