ZULIA, DIOCESE OF. – Diocese and capital city of the homonymous State in Venezuela (South America). The episcopal see is at Maracaibo.
It has an area of 58,000 sq. km. with a population of 523,568 all Catholic, distributed in 24 parishes served by 35 secular priests and 44 regular clergy; it has a seminary, 12 male and 16 female religious communities (Ann. Pont. 1953, p. 282).
The diocese was erected by Pope Leo XIII on 25 July 1897, by separation from the Diocese of Mérida, elevating to the rank and dignity of cathedral the church dedicated to the Apostles Peter and Paul. Its first bishop was Msgr. Francesco Marvez. The episcopal see was vacant from 1904 to 1910, when Msgr. Celestino Álvarez was consecrated bishop. The diocese was formerly a suffragan of Santiago de Venezuela and is now a suffragan of Mérida.