It has an area of 43,757 sq. km., with a population of 600,000, of whom 480,000 are Catholics. It comprises 24 parishes served by 24 diocesan priests and 63 regular clergy, one seminary, 11 male religious communities and 33 female religious communities (*Ann. Pont.*, 1952, p. 314). The diocese was erected by Pope Pius X with the bull *Praedecessorum nostrorum* of 15 Aug. 1910, as a suffragan of Porto Alegre. The first bishop was Msgr. F. de Campos Barreto (1910–20). The cathedral is dedicated to St. Francis of Paola.
BIBL.: G. B. Lehmann, *O Brasil Católico 1947*, Juiz de Fora 1947, pp. 271–74.