LA SERENA, DIOCESE of. — City and diocese in the province of Coquimbo in Chile; it comprises the provinces of Atacama and Coquimbo.
The diocese has an area of 34,862 sq. km., with 245,609 inhabitants, of whom 232,750 are Catholics. It has 27 parishes, with 38 diocesan priests and 48 religious priests, and one seminary; there are 12 male and 15 female religious communities (Annuario Pontificio, 1951, p. 241).
The diocese was created by Gregory XVI on 1 July 1840 as a suffragan of Santiago; the first bishop was Mgr. J. A. de la Sierra. Pope Pius XII, with the apostolic constitution Quo provinciarum of 20 May 1939, raised it to metropolitan status, assigning to it as suffragans the dioceses of Antofagasta and Iquique and the apostolic administration of Copiapó.