Temuco, Diocese of

TEMUCO, DIOCESE of. — City and diocese in the province of Malleco and part of that of Cautin in Chile (South America).

It has an area of 19,544 sq. km. and a population of 329,576 inhabitants, of whom 100,000 are Catholics; it has 21 parishes served by 16 diocesan priests and 31 religious priests; it has 12 male and 16 female religious communities (Ann. Pont. 1953, p. 420).

The diocese was erected by Pope Pius XI by the apostolic constitution Notabiliter aucto of 18 October 1925, through the division of the archdiocese of Santissima Concezione, of which it is a suffragan see, elevating the church dedicated to St Joseph to the rank and dignity of a cathedral.