Roman Catholic Diocese of Barinas

Diocese of Barinas

*Dioecesis Barinensis*
Diocese of Barinas; Dioecesis Barinensis
	Cathedral of Our Lady of the Pillar
Location
Country	Venezuela
Ecclesiastical province	Mérida
Statistics
Area	35,200 km2 (13,600 sq mi)
Population; - Total; - Catholics	(as of 2006); 647,000; 609,000 (94.1%)
Information
Rite	Latin Rite
Established	23 July 1965 (59 years ago)
Cathedral	Cathedral of Our Lady of the Pillar, Barinas
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Jesús Alfonso Guerrero Contreras, OFMCap
Bishops emeritus	Ramón Antonio Linares Sandoval

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Barinas (Latin: Dioecesis Barinensis) is a suffragan Latin diocese, in the ecclesiastical province of Mérida, in western Venezuela's land-locked Barinas state.

Its cathedral episcopal see is the Marian catedral de Nuestra Señora del Pilar, dedicated to Our Lady of the Pillar, located in the eponymous state capital Barinas.

History

On 23 July 1965 Pope Paul VI established the Diocese of Barinas on territories split off from the Diocese of Calabozo and from their Metropolitan, Mérida in Venezuela.
It lost territory on 3 December 2015 to establish (part of) the Roman Catholic Diocese of Guasdualito, in the same province.

Bishops

Episcopal ordinaries

Suffragan Bishops of Barinas

Rafael Angel González Ramírez (1965.07.23 – 1992.08.01)
Antonio José López Castillo (1992.08.01 – 2001.12.27); previously Titular Bishop of Theuzi (1988.02.26 – 1992.08.01) and Auxiliary Bishop of Maracaibo (Venezuela) (1988.02.26 – 1992.08.01; later Metropolitan Archbishop of Calabozo (Venezuela) (2001.12.27 – 2007.12.22), Metropolitan Archbishop of Barquisimeto (Venezuela) (2007.12.22 – ...)
Ramón Antonio Linares Sandoval (2002.07.16 – retired 2013.08.30), previously Bishop of Puerto Cabello (Venezuela) (1994.07.05 – 2002.07.16); later Apostolic Administrator of Acarigua–Araure (Venezuela) (2013.12 – 2015.08.10)
José Luis Azuaje Ayala (2013.08.30 – 2018.05.24), also Vice-President of Episcopal Conference of Venezuela (2012.01.12 – ...); previously titular Bishop of Italica (1999.03.18 – 2006.07.15) and Auxiliary Bishop of Barquisimeto (Venezuela) (1999.03.18 – 2006.07.15), Apostolic Administrator of El Vigía–San Carlos del Zulia (Venezuela) (2005 – 2006.07.15), promoted Bishop of El Vigía–San Carlos del Zulia (2006.07.15 – 2013.08.30); later Archbishop of Maracaibo 2018.05.24 - ...)
Jesús Alfonso Guerrero Contreras, OFMCap (2018.12.21 - ...), previously titular Bishop of Leptiminus (1995.12.06 - 2011.04.09) and Vicar Apostolic of Caroní (1995.12.06 - 2011.04.09), Bishop of Machiques (2011.04.09 - 2018.12.21)

Auxiliary bishops

José Vicente Henriquez Andueza, SDB (1981-1985), appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Caracas, Santiago de Venezuela
Alejandro Figueroa Medina (1986-1995), appointed Bishop of Guanare