GALAPAGOS, APOSTOLIC PREFECTURE OF THE ISLANDS OF
By a decree of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith dated 6 May 1950, a new apostolic prefecture has been erected comprising the entire archipelago of the Colón Islands or Galápagos Islands, which previously belonged to the diocese of Guayaquil (Ecuador).
The prefecture lies about 950 km from the mainland. It consists of five large islands, seven smaller islands, and a great number of islets. The total area is about 7,884 sq km. The population does not reach 2,000 inhabitants, but it is increasing. For 120 years no priest has resided there permanently, and many inhabitants remain unbaptized.
The new prefecture has been entrusted to the Friars Minor, who must begin their apostolic work from nothing.
Bibl.: Bram. D. Baldocci Nigetti, *Vita del venerabile servo di Dio Hippolito G. faventino*, Rome 1657; A. Butler, *The lives of the saints*, new ed. by H. Thurston and N. Leeson, III, London 1942, p. 351; and the bibliography cited there; D. Del Campana, *La biblioteca ascetica del b. I. G.*, in *Studi francescani*, 3rd ser., 18 (1946), pp. 66-71.