UCAYALI, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF. - It is located in the northern region of Peru.

In 1619 the evangelization of the area began through Fr. Gregorio Bolivar with scant results. More fortunate was Fr. Filippo di Luyando, who in 1631 began the work of converting the various indigenous populations and also the series of 47 missionaries killed up to and including 1724. In 1725 the Franciscan province of the Twelve Apostles of Peru transferred the mission to Fr. Francesco di s. Giuseppe, who founded the missionary College of Ocopa in 1724. In 1742 the apostate Indian Juan Santos Atahualpa stirred up the Indians against the missionaries, bringing about the ruin of the mission. In 1752 the work of restoration began, which brought the mission to a very flourishing state. When the independence of Peru was proclaimed in 1821, the missionaries, being Spaniards, had to abandon the mission. Only Fr. Emmanuele Plaza, a Peruvian, remained there, and he later became bishop of Cuenca in Peru. In 1824 the College of Ocopa was closed. Only in 1836 could it be reopened, and with the help of other Spanish and Italian missionaries it became possible to begin the missions again.

On 5 February 1900 Propaganda divided the entire region of the Peruvian "Montaña" into the three apostolic prefectures of Amazonas y Huallaga for the Augustinians, of Urubamba and Madre di Dio for the Dominicans, and of St. Francis of U. for the Franciscans. On 14 July 1925 it was elevated to an apostolic vicariate. It has an area of about 225,000 sq km with a population of about 155,000 inhabitants, almost all Catholics; 35 missionaries, 12 brothers and 84 sisters work there. There are 16 quasi-parishes and 20 mission stations. The schools and charitable works as well as the pious associations and those of Catholic Action are well developed.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: B. Izaguirre, Hist. de las misiones francisc. y narración de los progresos de la geografía en el Orient del Perú, Lima 1922-1927, passim: AAS, 13 (1926), p. 86: G. Arcila Robledo, La Orden francisc. en la Amer. merid., Rome 1948, pp. 171-80; MC, 1950, pp. 58-59.

Saverio Paventi

@incollection{ec12_ucayali_vicariato_apostolico_d, author = {Paventi, Saverio}, title = {Ucayali, vicariato apostolico di}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XII}, pages = {666--667}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1954}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/ucayali-vicariato-apostolico-di} }

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Ucayali, Apostolic Vicariate of

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