LIMON, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF. - In Costa Rica. The mission of L. was promoted in 1880 by the second bishop of San José in Costa Rica, Mons. Augusto Thiel, when he visited some groups of Indians in the mountains of Talamanca, where later, for a short time, some secular priests resided. In 1894 the German Lazarist Fathers took charge of the area, to whom the Apostolic Vicariate of L. was then entrusted, erected on 26 February 1921.
Its territory was initially limited to the province of L., but on 1 April 1927, by decree of the Sacred Consistorial Congregation, the parish of Turrialba and part of the civil province of Heredia were added. At present the mission covers an area of 10,651 sq. km. The population is mixed: in the lowlands blacks predominate, originating from the island of Jamaica, brought to Costa Rica for the planting of bananas and the construction of railways; in Turrialba, on the other hand, Europeans and mestizos predominate, descendants of the ancient Spanish colonizers. The Indians are reduced to three tribes: the Chirripó, the Cabécar and the Bribrí.
The statistical data (1950) are: inhabitants 75,250, of whom 60,000 are Catholic and the rest pagans; national priests 4, foreign priests 6; primary stations 5, secondary stations 50; elementary and professional school.
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