MOSSORÒ, DIOCESI di - City and diocese in the State of Rio Grande do Nord in Brazil. Over an area of 18,365 sq. km., it has 400,000 inhabitants, of whom 350,000 are Catholics; it has 16 parishes, served by 13 diocesan priests and 20 religious priests, one seminary, 4 male and 5 female religious communities.
The diocese was created by Pope Pius XI by the apostolic constitution Pro ecclesiarum omnium of 28 July 1934, through the dismemberment of the diocese of Natal. The first bishop was Msgr. J. de Barros Camara, from 1936 to 1941, when he was transferred to Belem do Parò. The current bishop is Msgr. G. B. Portocarrero Costa, since 8 December 1943. It is a suffragan of Paraíba. The Cathedral is dedicated to St. Lucy. The patroness of the diocese is the Immaculate Heart of Mary.