TERESINA, DIOCESE OF. – Suffragan of S. Luise del Maranhão, in the State of Piauí, Brazil.
It covers an area of 53,000 sq. km, with a population of 347,697, of whom 345,597 are Catholic. There are 14 parishes, served by 23 diocesan priests and 4 religious priests. It has a minor seminary, one male religious community and six female communities (Ann. Pont. 1953, p. 420).
The diocese was erected by Pope Leo XIII with the bull Supremum Catholicum Ecclesiam of 20 Feb. 1901. Initially it bore the name of Piauí, which was changed to Teresina on 16 Dec. 1944. Its bishops have been: Gioachino Antonio de Almeida, Ottaviano Pereira de Albuquerque. The present ordinary is His Excellency Archbishop Severino Vieira de Melo, with as auxiliary His Excellency Bishop Raimondo de Castro e Silva, titular of Eluza.