LIMON, VICARIATO APOSTOLICO di. — In Costarica. The mission of L. was promoted in 1880 by the second bishop of S. Giuseppe di Costarica, Msgr. Augusto Thiel, when he visited certain groups of Indians among the mountains of Talamanca, where some secular priests subsequently resided for a short time. In 1894 the German Lazarist Fathers assumed responsibility for the area, and the apostolic vicariate of L., erected on 26 Feb. 1921, was later entrusted to them.
Its territory was initially limited to the province of L., but on 1 Apr. 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 has an area of 10,651 sq. km. The population is mixed: on the plain Negroes predominate, originally from the island of Giamaica, brought to Costarica for banana plantations and railway construction; in Turrialba, on the other hand, Europeans and mestizos predominate, descendants of the ancient Spanish settlers. The Indians are reduced to three tribes: the Chirippo, the Cabecar, and the Bribri.
The statistical data (1950) are: population 75,250, of whom 60,000 are Catholics and the remainder pagans; native priests 4, foreign priests 6; primary stations 5, secondary stations 50; elementary and vocational school.