MONTESCLAROS, DIOCESE of. — City and diocese at the northernmost extremity of the State of Minas Gerais in Brazil. It covers an area of 129,328 sq km, with a population of 401,000 inhabitants, approximately 400,000 of whom are Catholics. It has 26 parishes served by 20 diocesan priests and 17 religious priests, one seminary, 3 male and 4 female religious communities. The diocese is suffragan to Diamantina.
The diocese was created by Pius X through the bull Postulat of 10 December 1910, by division of the diocese of Adamantina. The first bishop was Msgr. J. A. Pimenta (d. in 1943).
The Cathedral is dedicated to the Most Holy Conception and to St Joseph, patrons of the diocese. In 1950, a diocesan college and school of commerce, «Nossa Senhora Aparacida», were opened; in 1951, the domestic school «N. Signora della Mercede» and the orphanage «N. Signora del Perpetuo Soccorso».
The diocesan newspaper is Tribuna del Nord.