Guayaquil, Diocese of

GUAYAQUIL, Diocese of. - City and diocese, also called Santiago de G., in Ecuador, on the right bank of the Guayas River, on the gulf of the same name, the largest in South America on the Pacific. Pope Pius XII, by the apostolic constitution Perampium quarumdam of 6 May 1950, separated from G. the territory of the Galapagos Islands, constituting them as an apostolic prefecture under the jurisdiction of the S. Congregation of Propaganda Fide (AAS, 42 [1950], pp. 707-708).

It has an area of 32,303 sq km with a population of 683,887 inhabitants, of whom 680,240 are Catholics; it has 40 parishes with 43 secular priests and 25 regular priests, a seminary, 15 male religious communities and 10 female ones (1949). The diocese was founded on 27 January 1838 by the dismemberment of the diocese of Cuenca; it was a suffragan of Lima until 13 January 1849, when it passed under the jurisdiction of Quito. The first bishop was J. de Garaico (1538-51). Among the sacred monuments worthy of note are the Cathedral, the churches of St. Francis, St. Dominic, St. Alexis, St. Joseph, and of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. The municipal Library and Museum are of value.

Enrico Josi