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Suffragan diocese Machala, Ecuador

Diocese of Machala

Machalen(sis)

Latin-rite diocese seated in Machala, El Oro Province, Ecuador, suffragan of the Archdiocese of Cuenca. Established on 26 July 1954 as the Territorial Prelature of El Oro from territory of the Dioceses of Guayaquil and Cuenca, it was elevated to the Diocese of Machala on 31 January 1969. Its cathedral is the Catedral de Nuestra Senora de la Merced in Machala.

On the map

Esri
The address the register holds for Catedral de Nuestra Senora de la Merced, Machala, in Machala, Ecuador.

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Established
1954
Catholics
485,000
Priests
38
Territory
5,819 km²

Parishes and churches

1 listed church in our records. Open a parish for Mass times, confession, directions and sources where recorded.

This is our recorded coverage, not an official diocesan parish count. Confirm service times with the parish before travelling.

The bishop

Bishop
Vicente Horacio Saeteros Sierra
Born
6 April 1968
Birthplace
Santa Ana

Explore the ministry of the bishop.

The cathedral

Catedral de Nuestra Senora de la Merced, Machala stands in Machala, 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.

History

What began on July 26, 1954, as the Territorial Prelature of El Oro, formed from territory of the Dioceses of Guayaquil and Cuenca, was raised on January 31, 1969, to become the Roman Catholic Diocese of Machala (Latin: Dioecesis Machalensis). It is seated in the city of Machala, within the ecclesiastical province of Cuenca in Ecuador.