GARZÓN, DIOCESE OF. — A city and diocese in Colombia, in the department of Huila (State of Tolima), 377 km from Bogotá. On 20 May 1900, Pope Leo XIII erected it as a diocese (Diocesis Garzonensis), with its seat at Neiva, comprising the provinces of Garzón and Neiva, which had hitherto belonged to the diocese of Tolima. This diocese is suffragan to the archdiocese of Popayán. Its first bishop was Msgr. Stefano Rojas.
The diocese covers an area of 2,700 km² with a population of 232,000, of whom 231,900 are Catholic. They are distributed among 50 parishes served by 65 diocesan priests, 16 religious priests, and 16 male and 17 female religious communities (1904). It has a thriving seminary. Notable is the cathedral, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception.