ZULIA, DIOCESE of. - Diocese and capital city of the State of the same name in Venezuela (South America). The residence is at Maracaibo.
It has an area of 58,000 sq. km., with a population of 523,568 inhabitants, all Catholics, distributed among 24 parishes served by 35 diocesan and 44 regular priests; it has a seminary, 12 male and 16 female religious communities (Ann. Pont. 1953, p. 282).
The diocese was erected by Pope Leone XIII on 25 July 1897, by dismemberment from the diocese of Merida, raising to the rank and dignity of cathedral the church dedicated to the Apostles Pietro and Paolo. Its first bishop was Msgr. Francesco Marvez. The episcopal see remained vacant from 1904 to 1910, the year in which Msgr. Celestino Alvarez was consecrated bishop. The diocese was first a suffragan of Santiago di Venezuela; it is currently a suffragan of Merida.