Catholic Intelligence

Archdiocese of São José do Rio Preto

Sancti Josephi Riopreten(sis)

Latin Catholic see in northwestern São Paulo state, erected as the Diocese of Rio Preto in 1929 and elevated to a metropolitan archdiocese on 22 May 2025. Its suffragan dioceses are Barretos, Catanduva, Jales, and Votuporanga.

The see

Rank
Metropolitan see
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
1929
Latin
Sancti Josephi Riopreten(sis)
Patron
Saint Joseph
Annuario code
001002992

The see in figures

Catholics
701,000
Population
934,000
Catholic share
75.1%

of the people living within its bounds

Priests
119
Catholics per priest
5,891
Extent
14,423 km²
Catholics per km²
49

Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.

The bishop

Archbishop
Antônio Emídio Vilar
Born
14 November 1957
Birthplace
Guardinha
Institute
SOCIETÀ SALESIANA DI S. GIOVANNI BOSCO (SALESIANI)

A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.

The cathedral

Catedral São José stands in São José do Rio Preto, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.

On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.

The province of São José do Rio Preto

This see is the metropolitan of its province.

The sees of this province:

On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.

History

Seated in the Brazilian city of São José do Rio Preto, this archdiocese bears the Latin name Archidioecesis Riopretensis.

What is kept by invitation

The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.

The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.

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Sources

The see's own website · Wikipedia

This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].