COLIMA, DIOCESE OF. — In the Republic of Mexico, a suffragan of Guadalajara, erected by Leo XIII on 11 Dec. 1896 by the constitution *Si principum*, through the division of the archdiocese of Guadalajara.
It comprises the State of Colima and the southern part of the State of Jalisco, with an area of 26,816 sq. km. and a population—predominantly mestizo—of 260,000, of whom 259,000 are Catholics. These are divided into 30 parishes served by 75 diocesan priests and one minor seminary. The episcopal see is Colima, the state capital, founded in 1522 by Gonzalo de Sandoval under the name of San Sebastián.
Notable colonial-era buildings include the convent and church of La Merced, the church of Jesús, and the hospital of San Juan de Dios; the cathedral is the most notable religious construction in the diocese, dating from the end of the last century.
Toward the end of the 18th century, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the initiator of Mexico’s emancipation movement from Spain, served as curate of Colima.