GUAYAQUIL, DIOCESI di. - 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 on the Pacific coast of South America. By the apostolic constitution Perampium quarumdam of 6 May 1950, Pope Pius XII separated from G. the territory of the Galápagos 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 and 25 regular priests, one seminary, 15 male and 10 female religious communities (1949). The diocese was founded on 27 Jan. 1838 by dismemberment from the diocese of Cuenca; it was a suffragan of Lima until 13 Jan. 1849, when it passed under the jurisdiction of Quito. The first bishop was J. de Garaico (1538-51). Among the sacred monuments, noteworthy are the Cathedral and the churches of S. Francesco, S. Domenico, S. Alessio, S. Giuseppe, and the SS. Cuori di Gesù e Maria. The Municipal Library and Museum are of value.