VIEDMA, DIOCESE OF. - A city and diocese in the province of Río Negro (Argentina).
It has an area of 691,679 sq. km. with a population of 220,000 inhabitants, of whom 190,000 are Catholic; it comprises 23 parishes served by 15 diocesan priests and 82 regular clergy; it has 19 male and 15 female religious communities (Ann. Pont. 1953, p. 423). It is a suffragan of La Plata.
The diocese was erected by Pope Pius XI with the apostolic constitution *Nobilis Argentinae Nationis* of 20 April 1934, and embraces the territories of Río Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz, and Tierra del Fuego, separated from the archdiocese of Buenos Aires.
The church dedicated to Our Lady Help of Christians was elevated to the rank and dignity of a cathedral.
Bibl.: AAS, 27 (1935), pp. 260 ff.