The Diocese of Ciudad Guayana (Latin: Dioecesis Civitatis Guayanensis) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church located in the city of Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela. It is in the ecclesiastical province of Ciudad Bolívar.[1]
History
On 20 August 1979, Pope John Paul II established the Diocese of Ciudad Guayana from the Archdiocese of Ciudad Bolívar.
In the 2010s, a shortage of priests and religious communities strained the diocese's finances and ability to do "their best to respond to the corporal and spiritual challenges bred by widespread poverty and violence."[2]
Bishops
Ordinaries
- Medardo Luis Luzardo Romero (20 August 1979 – 26 May 1986) Appointed, Archbishop of Ciudad Bolívar
- José de Jesús Nuñez Viloria (13 January 1987 – 21 July 1990)
- Ubaldo Ramón Santana Sequera, F.M.I. (2 May 1991 – 11 November 2000) Appointed, Archbishop of Maracaibo
- Mariano José Parra Sandoval (10 July 2001 – 25 October 2016) Appointed, Archbishop of Coro
- Helizandro Emiro Terán Bermúdez, O.S.A. (29 July 2017 – 19 March 2022)
- Carlos Alfredo Cabezas Mendoza (since 8 December 2022 -).[3]
Other priests of this diocese who became bishops
- Ángel Francisco Caraballo Fermín, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Maracaibo in 2012, and metropolitan archbishop of Cumaná, Venezuela in 2025.[4]
- Juan Carlos Bravo Salazar, appointed Bishop of Acarigua-Araure in 2015.
References
- 1."Diocese of Ciudad Guayana". GCatholic. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
- 2.Liedl, Jonathan (October 15, 2018). "Catholic Church in Venezuela Suffers With Her People: Priests are going hungry and religious communities have been leaving the country, but leaders say crisis is an opportunity to return to the core of the Gospel". National Catholic Register. Retrieved November 19, 2025.
- 3."Diocese of Ciudad Guyana: Ordinaries". Retrieved 19 November 2025.
- 4."Appointment of metropolitan archbishop of Cumaná, Venezuela". Vatican Press Office. 6 March 2025. Retrieved 19 November 2025.