It covers an area of 210,000 sq km and has a population of approximately 45,000 inhabitants, most of whom are Catholic. The Jesuits, coming from Paraguay, were the first to work here; in 1767, when they were expelled, they left behind more than 20,000 converted Indians. The mission then came under the jurisdiction of the diocese of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, from which it was detached in 1930 to be erected as an apostolic vicariate entrusted to the Friars Minor.
Currently, there are 18 priests of the Order of Friars Minor, 5 lay brothers, and 11 sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis. Religious life is well organized: there are 16 churches, 38 chapels, and several elementary and secondary schools.
BIBL.: AAS, 12 (1930), pp. 364-66; G. Arcila Robledo, La Orden franciscana en la América meridional, Rome 1948, pp. 212-215; Arch. Prop. Fide, Five-year Report (1949), file no. 1446/99.
Antonio Mazza