SAN LUIGI DEL MARGANANO (São Luiz de Maranhão), Archdiocese of
In the State of Maranhão, Brazil. It is the metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province of the same name, which includes as suffragans the dioceses of Teresina, Caxias do Norte, Oeiras, Paraíba, and in addition the prelatures *nullius* of Bom Jesus do Piauí, São José do Grajaú, and Pinheiro.
The archdiocese covers approximately 20,336 sq. km. with a population of 800,000, of whom 780,000 are Catholics distributed in 43 parishes, served by 33 diocesan priests and 20 religious; it has a seminary, 5 male and 9 female religious communities. Patron saint: St. Louis of France; feast day: August 25. The city of São Luís is located at 2° 31' 42" S. lat. and 44° 16' 42" W. long. (Gr.), and has about 60,000 inhabitants. It is the state capital, a commercial and intellectual center, and a coastal port serving its own state and the neighboring state of Piauí, mainly for the export of cereals, cocoa, and products of the highly useful babassu palm.
History. — The coast of Maranhão may have been visited by Pizon before Cabral discovered Brazil (v.). In the 16th century, Portuguese attempts to colonize the region through feudal lords repeatedly failed. The French, however, after some exploration, allied themselves with the indigenous peoples and decided to establish the Equinoctial France, which was accomplished by a strong expedition under the command of Charles des Vaux and François de Rosilly. With the conquerors came 4 Capuchins, later joined by 12 more who built two churches and a convent, immediately beginning their work.
In 1847, the Apostolic Vicar of the Two Guineas established his see at Dakar. On February 8, 1863, the Apostolic Vicariate of Senegambia (v. Dakar) was detached from the Apostolic Vicariate of the Two Guineas; its southern boundary was the Nuñez River, bordering on the Apostolic Vicariate of Sierra Leone, erected on March 20, 1855. From August 19, 1873, to the present, the Apostolic Prefecture of São Luís and the Apostolic Vicariate of Dakar have been governed by the same Ordinary, with his see at Dakar. On March 10, 1915, Mauritania was added to its jurisdiction, and on January 27, 1936, it took the name of São Luís del Maranhão. Statistics are included in those of the Dakar vicariate.