Apostolic Vicariate of El Beni

The Apostolic Vicariate of El Beni (or Beni for short) (Latin: Apostolicus Vicariatus Benensis) is a Latin Church missionary ecclesiastical territory or apostolic vicariate. As an exempt territory, it is not part of any ecclesiastical province. Its cathedra is in the Catedral de la Santísima Trinidad (devoted to the Holy Trinity), in the episcopal see of Trinidad in Bolivia's Amazonian interior.

Apostolic Vicariate of El Beni Apostolicus Vicariatus Benensis Vicariato Apostólico de El Beni o Beni
Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity
Location
Country	Bolivia
Ecclesiastical province	Immediately exempt to the Holy See
Statistics
Area	150,686 km2 (58,180 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2010) 206,010 164,808 (80%)
Parishes	30
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	1 December 1917 (107 years ago)
Cathedral	Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Trinidad
Patron saint	Holy Trinity
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Vicar Apostolic	Aurelio Pesoa Ribera, O.F.M.
Auxiliary Bishops	Roberto Bordi, O.F.M.
Bishops emeritus	Julio María Elías Montoya, O.F.M.
Map

History

On 1 December 1917 Pope Benedict XV established as Apostolic Vicariate of El Beni on territory split off from the then Diocese of Santa Cruz de la Sierra (now an archdiocese).

It lost territory twice in 1942, when Pope Pius XII created the Apostolic Vicariate of Pando and Apostolic Vicariate of Reyes.^[1][2]

Exceptionally for a pre-diocesan jurisdiction, it was repeatedly (since 1781) given an auxiliary bishop, so as to be headed by two titular bishops.

Ordinaries

So far, all members of the missionary Friars Minor (O.F.M.)

• Ramón Calvó y Martí, O.F.M., Titular Bishop of Catenna (13 August 1919 – † 5 March 1926)
• Pedro Francisco Luna Pachón, O.F.M., Titular Bishop of Titiopolis (10 July 1926 – 1953) Resigned
• Carlos Anasagasti Zulueta, O.F.M., Titular Bishop of Caltadria (29 June 1953 – 17 November 1986) Resigned
  • Auxiliary Bishop Manuel Eguiguren Galarraga, O.F.M., Titular Bishop of Salpi (1981.11.30 – 2007.06.06)
• Julio María Elías Montoya, O.F.M., Titular Bishop of Cuma (17 November 1986 – 22 February 2020) Retired
  • Auxiliary Bishop Francisco Focardi Mazzocchi, O.F.M., Titular Bishop of Cenculiana (2007.06.06 – 2009.07.15)
  • Auxiliary Bishop Roberto Bordi, O.F.M., Titular Bishop of Mutugenna (2010.11.06 – ...)
• Aurelio Pesoa Ribera, O.F.M. (2020.11.28 -

See also

• List of Jesuit sites
• Roman Catholicism in Bolivia

References

1. "Vicariate Apostolic of El Beni". catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2013-03-30.
2. "Apostolic Vicariate of El Beni". Gcatholic.org. Retrieved 2013-03-30.

Sources and external links

• GigaCatholic, with incumbent biography links