Saint Thomas of Guiana was a Roman Catholic diocese

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

 and suffragan of Caracas

Caracas

Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...

. It was erected by Pius VI on 19 December, 1791, and comprises the former state of Bermúdez

Bermúdez Municipality

The Bermúdez Municipality is one of the 15 municipalities that makes up the eastern Venezuelan state of Sucre and, according to a 2007 population estimate by the National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela, the municipality has a population of 150,504. The city of Carúpano is the shire town of...

, districts of Nueva Esparta

Nueva Esparta

Nueva Esparta State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It comprises Margarita Island, Coche, and the largely uninhabited Cubagua.The state is the smallest one in area, and is located off the northeast Caribbean coast of Venezuela. It is the only insular state of Venuezuela...

 and Guayana

Guayana Region

The Guayana Region is an administrative region of Venezuela.The region has a population of 1,383,297 inhabitants and a territory of 458,344 km². It borders the independent nation of Guyana which forms part of The Guyanas...

, and territories of Amazonas

Amazonas (Venezuelan state)

Amazonas State is one of the 23 states into which Venezuela is divided.The state capital is Puerto Ayacucho. The capital until the early 1900s was San Fernando de Atabapo. Although named after the Amazon River, most of the state is drained by the Orinoco. Amazonas State covers a total surface...

, Caura, Colón

Colón

Colón is a Spanish and Portuguese surname, comparable to the Italian and Portuguese Colombo . It may refer to:People:* Cristóbal Colón, the Spanish language name for the explorer Christopher Columbus...

, Orinoco

Orinoco

The Orinoco is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes called the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3% of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia...

, and Yuruary, in the south and east of Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

.

The Caribs were Christianized by the early Spanish Franciscan

Franciscan

Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....

 missionaries. The episcopal city, Ciudad Bolívar

Ciudad Bolívar

Ciudad Bolívar is the capital of Venezuela's southeastern Bolivar State. It was founded with the name Angostura in 1764, renamed in 1846, and, as of 2010, had an estimated population of 350,691....

, was established in 1764 by two Jesuits under the governorship of Joaquín de Mendoza, on the right bank of the Orinoco, and called San Tomás de la Nueva Guayana; but owing to a narrowing of the river was commonly known as Angostura.

Bishops

• Mgr. Francisco de Ybarra, born at Guacata, Venezuela
• José Antonio Mohedano (1800), born in the Diocese of Toledo
• Mgr. José de Silva y Olave (15 March, 1815)

After Venezuelan independence

• Mgr. Mariano Talavero, of Santa Fé, vicar Apostolic and titular Bishop of Tricala.
• Mgr. Antonio Fortique (12 July, 1841)
• José Emanuel Arroyo (1856)
• Mgr. Antonio Maria Duran (25 Sept., 1891)

External links

• Thomas of Guiana at the Catholic Encyclopedia
  Catholic Encyclopedia
  The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia and the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in the United States. The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index...