Roman Catholic Diocese of Bluefields

The Diocese of Bluefields (Latin: Dioecesis Bluefieldensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua. The Vicariate Apostolic of Bluefields had been erected on December 2, 1913 and had grown to approximately 587,000 Catholics by 2017. On November 30, 2017 the Vicariate Apostolic of Bluefields was elevated to a diocese and a second diocese (the Diocese of Siuna) was created, taking approximately 60% of the Catholics that had formerly been in the Vicariate Apostolic of Bluefields. The current bishop is Francisco José Tigerino Dávila.

Diocese of Bluefields Dioecesis Bluefieldensis
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary in Bluefields in 2023
Location
Country	Nicaragua
Ecclesiastical province	Province of Managua
Metropolitan	Leopoldo José Brenes Solórzano
Statistics
Area	19,964 km2 (7,708 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2017) 457,565 260,838 (57%)
Parishes	10
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	2 December 1913 (110 years ago)
Cathedral	Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Diocesan Bishop	Francisco José Tigerino Dávila
Bishops emeritus	Pablo Ervin Schmitz Simon, OFMCap
Map

History

• February 12, 1913: Established as Vicariate Apostolic of Bluefields, on territory split off from the Diocese of León in Nicaragua
• November 30, 2017: Lost territory to establish the Diocese of Siuna
• November 30, 2017: Elevated as to the status of diocese

Ordinaries

• Agustín José Bernaus y Serra, OFMCap (1913–1930)
• Juan Solá y Farrell, OFMCap (1931–1942)
• Matteo Aloisio Niedhammer y Yaeckle, OFMCap (1943–1970)
• Salvador Albert Schlaefer Berg, OFMCap (1970–1993)
• Pablo Ervin Schmitz Simon, OFMCap (1994–2020)
• Francisco José Tigerino Dávila (2020– )

Auxiliary bishops

• Pablo Ervin Schmitz Simon, OFMCap (1984-1994), appointed Vicar Apostolic here
• David Albin Zywiec Sidor, OFMCap (2002–2017)

See also

• Roman Catholic dioceses of Nicaragua

External links

• "Vicariate Apostolic of Bluefields". Catholic-Hierarchy. Archived from the original on 4 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-03.