CHIHUAHUA, Diocese of. – In the Republic of Mexico, State of Chihuahua. Erected on 23 June 1891.
It is the largest diocese in Mexico (245,612 sq km), with a population of approximately 747,650 inhabitants, of whom 704,500 are Catholic. In the Tarahumara region, in the south-western part of the Sierra Madre, there live 25,000 Indians, of whom 12,000 are still pagan. The evangelization of these people is attended to by some Jesuits, who depend directly on Propaganda Fide. The diocese is divided into 51 parishes; it has 185 churches, 61 diocesan priests and 22 regular priests, and one seminary (1948). It is a suffragan of Durango.
The cathedral, completed in 1789, has its façade crowned by two bell towers. Notable among its churches are the ancient church of St Francis and the modern ones dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Holy Family, and the expiatory temple of the Sacred Heart.