Roman Catholicism in Bolivia
The Roman Catholic Church in Bolivia is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome.
History
The Roman Catholic Church in Bolivia has its origins in the colonization of South America, so in the 16th century. Supplied mainly by missionaries of the Dominicans, Jesuits and Franciscans, was founded already in 1552 with today's Archdiocese of Sucre, the first bishopric. The rapid stabilization of the internal situation led in 1605 to further establishing the dioceses of Santa Cruz de la Sierra and La Paz
After the colonies of South America and thus the church there were an appendage of Europe for centuries, it only came with the 20th century to form a stand-alone structure. So in 1924 three more dioceses and ecclesiastical province were built. In the following decades the Church of Bolivia reached its present structure.
Organization
The Church in Bolivia is represented by the Bolivian Episcopal Conference, chaired by the Military Bishop Oscar Aparicio. Vice Chairman Ricardo Centellas, Bishop of Potosí, and Secretary General Eugenio Scarpellini, Auxiliary Bishop of El Alto.
The Catholics about 7.5 million of the country constitute approximately 80 % of the population. They live in 596 parishes, which are spread over 18 dioceses in three ecclesiastical provinces. In Bolivia, there is an acute shortage of priests (as in all countries of South America ): for there is in the country not more than 485 diocesan priests, 635 religious priests. They are supported by 2,537 nuns. The religious congregations (which still send missionaries ) and the diocesan priests live like the population in poverty ( Bolivia is next to Haiti and Honduras is the poorest country in South America ). Their effort is especially the fight against poverty and the improvement of medical and educational care of the population.
The small number of clerics meant that many municipalities are strongly guided and influenced by catechists. Tireless efforts of the bystanders leads to a living Church, which is present on the spot and not wait for a " Service from afar ".
Increasing anti-clerical aggression
The Catholic Relief " ACN " reported in 2009 about increasing attacks government-related groups on Catholic communities. So a priest was forced to sign a demolition permit and a chapel funded by German donations council houses had been destroyed. Bolivia's current head of government of Evo Morales is quoted as saying that the Church is an " enemy of peace " and needed to be replaced. The head of the Latin America department of the charity, Javier Legorreta, warns that the Bolivian Catholic Church " a persecuted church [ ... ], a suffering church in great distress " will.
List of Dioceses by Ecclesiastical Province
- Archdiocese of Cochabamba: Diocese of Oruro, Territorialprälatur Aiquile
- Archdiocese of La Paz: Diocese of Coroico, Diocese of El Alto, Territorialprälatur corocoro
- Archdiocese of Santa Cruz de la Sierra: Diocese of San Ignacio de Velasco
- Archdiocese of Sucre: Diocese of Potosí, Tarija Diocese
- Immediate: Military Ordinariate, Apostolic Vicariate of Camiri, Apostolic Vicariate of El Beni o Beni, Apostolic Vicariate Ñuflo de Chávez, Vicariate Apostolic of Pando, Apostolic Vicariate Reyes
Some important people in the Bolivian Church
- Cardinal Julio Terrazas Sandoval Czechoslovakia ( b. 1936 ), Archbishop of Santa Cruz de la Sierra
- Cardinal Josef Clemens Maurer Czechoslovakia (1900-1990), Archbishop of Sucre and the first Cardinal of Bolivia
- Jorge Manrique Hurtado (1911-1995), Archbishop of La Paz
- Edmundo Abastoflor Montero, ( born 1943 ), Archbishop of La Paz
- Luis Espinal, SJ, (1932-1980), Left intellectuals and martyrs of the persecution in the period of military dictatorships
- Boniface Maderbacher OFM, (1919-2007), missionary bishop in the Diocese of San Ignacio de Velasco