Catholic Church in Bolivia | |
|---|---|
La Paz Metropolitan Cathedral | |
| Type | National polity |
| Classification | Catholic |
| Orientation | Latin |
| Scripture | Bible |
| Theology | Catholic theology |
| Governance | CEB |
| Pope | Leo XIV |
| President | Aurelio Pesoa Ribera |
| Apostolic Nuncio | Fermín Emilio Sosa Rodríguez |
| Region | Bolivia |
| Language | |
| Headquarters | La Paz |
| Origin | 16th century |
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TheCatholicChurch inBolivia is part of the worldwideCatholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of thePope inRome.Catholicism was introduced in the 1530s and the first diocese was established in 1552. Evangelization among the Indians bore much fruit from the mid-18th to early 19th century, resuming again in 1840. The country declared independence fromSpain in 1825.[citation needed]
Today, Bolivia is a predominantlyCatholic country. However, the Church was disestablished as the state religion in early 2009[2] and lost remaining privileges in 2019 with the promulgation of the law on religious freedom. According to a 2018 survey, 70% of Bolivians were Catholics.[1]
There are seventeen territorial jurisdictions in the country—fourarchdioceses, sixdioceses, and fiveapostolic vicariates and twoTerritorial Prelatures:[citation needed]