Roman Catholic Diocese of Limoeiro do Norte

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Limoeiro do Norte (Latin: Dioecesis Limoëirensis) is a Latin Rite suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of Fortaleza, both in Ceará state, northeast Brazil.

Diocese of Limoeiro do Norte Dioecesis Limoëirensis Diocese de Limoeiro do Norte
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Limoeiro do Norte
Location
Country	Brazil
Ecclesiastical province	Fortaleza
Metropolitan	Fortaleza
Statistics
Area	18,316 km2 (7,072 sq mi)
Population Total Catholics	(as of 2004) 484,111 435,699 (90.0%)
Information
Rite	Latin Rite
Established	7 May 1938 (87 years ago)
Cathedral	Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Limoeiro do Norte
Current leadership
Pope	Leo XIV
Bishop	André Vital Félix da Silva, S.C.I.
Metropolitan Archbishop	Gregório Ben Lâmed Paixão
Bishops emeritus	Manuel Edmilson da Cruz

Its cathedral episcopal see is Catedral Nossa Senhora da Conceiçao, dedicated to Immaculate Conception, in the city of Limoeiro do Norte.

History

• Established on 7 May 1938 as Diocese of Limoeiro do Norte by Pius XI's papal bulla Ad dominicum cuiusvis, on territory split off from its Metropolitan, the Archdiocese of Fortaleza.

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 489,000 Catholics (90.4% of 541,000 total) on 18,440 km² in 25 parishes and 1 mission with 41 priests (28 diocesan, 13 religious), 73 lay religious (18 brothers, 55 sisters) and 9 seminarians.

Bishops

(all Roman rite)

Episcopal ordinaries

Suffragan Bishops of Limoeiro do Norte

• Aureliano de Matos (1940.01.30 – death 1967.08.19), no previous prelature
• José Freire Falcão (1967.08.19 – 1971.11.25), succeeding as previous Titular Bishop of Vardimissa (1967.04.24 – 1967.08.19) as Coadjutor Bishop of Limoeiro do Norte (1967.04.24 – 1967.08.19); later Metropolitan Archbishop of Teresina (Brazil) (1971.11.25 – 1984.02.15), Metropolitan Archbishop of Brasília (Brazil) (1984.02.15 – 2004.01.28), Second Vice-President of Latin American Episcopal Council (1987 – 1991), created Cardinal-Priest of S. Luca a Via Prenestina (1988.06.28 – ...)
• Pompeu Bezerra Bessa (1973.01.25 – death 1994.05.18), died 2000
• Manuel Edmilson da Cruz (1994.05.18 – retired 1998.05.06), previously Titular Bishop of Vicus Cæsaris (1966.08.08 – 1994.05.18) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of São Luís do Maranhão (Brazil) (1966.08.08 – 1974.07.03) and as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Fortaleza (Brazil) (1974.07.03 – 1994.05.18), also Apostolic Administrator sede plena of Limoeiro do Norte (1992 – 1994.05.18)
• José Haring, O.F.M. (2000.01.19 – retired 2017.05.10)
• André Vital Félix da Silva, Dehonians (S.C.I.) (2017.05.10 – ...).

Coadjutor bishop

• José Freire Falcão (1967); future Cardinal

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

• José Mauro Ramalho de Alarcón Santiago, appointed Bishop of Iguatú, Ceara in 1961

See also

• List of Catholic dioceses in Brazil

Sources and external links

• GCatholic.org, with Google satellite photo - data for all sections
• Catholic Hierarchy