Tarahumara, Prefecture Apostolic of

TARAHUMARA, PREFECTURE APOSTOLIC OF. - It is located in northern Mexico and is a vast region enclosed among the high mountains of the western Sierra Madre.

It is inhabited by a tribe whose name derives from the word raramuri ("swift of foot") because of the playful custom, still practiced, of running while kicking ahead of themselves a ball of oak wood. The Jesuit Father Juan de la Fuente explored the region of the T. in 1614, and other confreres sought to convert them to the faith. With the expulsion of the Jesuits from Mexico in 1767 the area remained abandoned. They resumed the apostolate in 1900. During World War I the missionaries were expelled and were able to return only in 1921, beginning the education of the young. During the persecution the work suffered a new interruption. Today the mission is in full development. On May 6, 1950, the territory, detached from the diocese of Chihuahua, was erected as an apostolic prefecture and entrusted to the Jesuits.

It has an area of approximately 36,200 sq km with approximately 86,919 inhabitants, of whom only 4,000 are pagans. Missionaries 15, brothers 17, sisters 69, catechists 68. Primary stations 7, secondary 64, churches 7, chapels 64. Elementary schools 13.

Saverio Paventi