Ponce, Diocese of
A city and diocese in Central America on the island of Porto Rico; immediately subject to the Holy See.
It has an area of 1,200 sq. km. with a population of 1,000,000 inhabitants, of whom 900,000 are Catholic; 157 churches and 38 parishes with 25 diocesan priests and 88 regular clergy; 20 male and 24 female religious communities (Ann. Pont., 1952, p. 322).
The city was founded in 1680 under the name of Nostra Signora di Guadalupe di P.; on 21 November 1924 it was raised to the status of a diocese by Pius XI through division from the Diocese of Porto Rico.
The cathedral is dedicated to Nostra Signora di Guadalupe.
BIBL.: anno, s. V. ENOCH. Eur. Am., XLVI, pp. 236-38; AAS, 17 (1925), pp. 441-43. Enrico Josi