The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Juan Bautista (de las Misiones) (Latin: Dioecesis Sancti Ioannis Baptistae a Missionibus) is a southern suffragan Latin Catholic diocese in the ecclesiastical province of Asunción, which covers all of Paraguay (except the pre-diocesan missions).[1][2]
History
- On January 19, 1957, the Diocese of San Juan Bautista (de Las Misiones) was established on territories split off from the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Asunción and from the Diocese of Villarrica.
Special churches
Its cathedral episcopal see is Catedral San Juan Bautista, dedicated to John the Baptist, in the city of San Juan Bautista de las Misiones in Misiones Department
It also has a Minor Basilica : the Marian Basílica Nuestra Señora del Pilar, dedicated to Our Lady of Pilar, in Pilar, Paraguay, Ñeembucu.
Statistics
As per 2014, it pastorally served 227,000 Catholics (98.3% of 231,000 total) on 21,700 km2 in 30 parishes and 139 missions with 35 priests (19 diocesan, 16 religious), 2 deacons, 63 lay religious (18 brothers, 45 sisters) and 5 seminarians.
Leadership
| No. | Name | Episcopacy |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ramón Bogarín Argaña (1911–1976) | 19 January 1957 – 3 September 1973 |
| 2 | Carlos Milcíades Villaba (1924–2016) | 25 July 1978 – 22 July 1999 |
| 3 | Mario Melanio Medina[3] (b. 1939) | 22 July 1999 – 16 February 2017 |
| 4 | Pedro Collar (b. 1963) | 21 January 1957 – 19 December 2023 |
| 5 | Osmar López Benítez[4] (b. 1975) | 5 May 2025 – Incumbent |
References
- 1."Diocese of San Juan Bautista, Paraguay".
- 2."San Juan Bautista de las Misiones (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2025-05-19.
- 3.Coadjutor bishop from 1997 to 1999.
- 4."La trayectoria del nuevo obispo de la diócesis de Misiones y Ñeembucú - Nacionales - ABC Color". www.abc.com.py (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-05-19.