Diocese of Linares Dioecesis Linarensis Diócesis de Linares
Cathedral of St. Ambrose
Location
Country	Chile
Ecclesiastical province	Santiago de Chile
Statistics
Area	15,110 km2 (5,830 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2004) 361,384 271,038 (75%)
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	18 October 1925 (98 years ago)
Cathedral	Cathedral of St Ambrose in Linares
Patron saint	St Ambrose
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Tomislav Koljatic Maroevic
Metropolitan Archbishop	Celestino Aós Braco, OFM Cap
Website
obispadodelinares.cl

The Diocese of Linares (also known as the Diocese of San Ambrosio de Linares; Latin: Dioecesis Linarensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Linares, Chile. It was established by Pope Pius XI on October 18, 1925 in his papal bull Notabiliter Aucto.

The Diocese of Linares is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile. The diocese is located in the geographical center of the country. The diocesan territory comprises two Chilean full provinces, Linares Province and Cauquenes Province, and part of a third, Talca Province, all of them in the Maule Region of Chile. Compared to other Chilean dioceses, Linares has a higher proportion of rural inhabitants. Numerous chapels have been raised particularly in rural areas. The total number of chapels in the diocese exceeds 450.

Brief history of the diocese

Parish church of the village of Nirivilo, San Javier comuna, Linares Province, Chile. The building dates from Chile's colonial period. The parish belongs to the Diocese of Linares.

In 1963, the territory of the Diocese of Linares expanded to include the parishes of the then Province of Maule (currently known as the Province of Cauquenes) that belonged to the Diocese of Chillán, and a parish (Putú), carved out from Talca Province. Prior to 1925, the territory now comprised by the Diocese was part of the ancient Diocese of La Santísima Concepción –- now the Archdiocese of Concepción. The see of the Diocese and residence of the bishop is the city of Linares. The beautiful Cathedral Church is dedicated to Saint Ambrose of Milan.

The Doctrinas of Cauquenes and Putagán

When the dioceses of Santiago and La Imperial were erected (in 1561 and 1564, respectively), the Maule river was considered the dividing line between the two dioceses. However, it seems that the division was not sufficiently clear because the Bishop of Santiago, Fray Diego de Medellín (1576–1592), created two docrinas south of the Maule river that remained under the jurisdiction of the Santiago bishops for more than one hundred and seventy years. The doctrinas at issue were Cauquenes and Putagán. Cauquenes was erected in an area inhabited by the "cauquenes" Indians, who gave name to the region and the doctrina that was based there. In 1739 the Doctrinero Don José de Rozas and Amaza, who resided in Chanco, built a chapel in the seat of Cauquenes, the same place where Don José Antonio Manso de Velasco later founded the Villa de Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes de José de Manso de Tutuvén (Town of Our Lady of the Mercedes de José de Manso of Tutuvén, now Cauquenes) on May 9, 1742.

Cathedral of "San Ambrosio", Linares

The Cathedral of San Ambrosio de Linares

The Cathedral Church of San Ambrosio, of Linares Diocese, is considered to be one of the most important and finest religious buildings erected in Chile in the twentieth century. It replaced the original cathedral, after the latter was destroyed by an earthquake, in 1928. The new cathedral was conceived by bishop Juan Subercaseaux Errázuriz and its works were conducted by the renowned Chilean architects Carlos Bresciani and Jorge del Campo, the same duo that would be responsible, several years later, for the construction of another remarkable religious building, that of the parish church of Sagrado Corazón (Sacred Heart) in Providencia, Santiago de Chile.

Mgr. Subercaseaux gave a great initial impulse to the construction of the Linares Cathedral, which has been characterized as "the plastic expression of his refined artistic culture". Mgr. Subercaseaux, a dynamic and enterprising man, was not deterred by the shortage of resources available for the great work that had to be done. In his travels abroad, he was untiring to ask for greater resources for his diocese, which badly required some material aid that would help to finance the cathedral works and additional priests. In several countries (Italy, Germany, the United States, France, the Netherlands) Mgr. Subercaseaux appealed to the local Catholics in their own languages, urging them to contribute to the progress of his far-away diocese.

The cathedral was built according to the model of the famous Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio of Milan, built in Romanesque style and begun in the 4th century. The cathedral apse is remarkable for the outstanding mosaic work made by the Italian-born artist Giulio Di Girolamo. This mosaic work is one of the most important of its sort in South America. On the 18 October 2006 the remains of Giulio Di Girolamo's wife, Elvira, brought from Italy, were buried in the Cathedral together with those of her husband, who had died in 1998 and had been buried in the Cathedral years before.

Diocesan statistics

The Diocese of Linares has an area of 15,111 km² and a population close to 350,000. More than 70% of its inhabitants consider themselves Catholic (2002 Census).

Deaneries, parishes and priests of the diocese

There are 33 parishes grouped into six Deaneries, including: Urban Linares, Parral, Cauquenes, Constitución, San Javier, Rural Linares.

Ordinaries

Notes

External links

• Website of the diocese (in Spanish)
• Diocese of Linares at the www.catholic-hierarchy.org website

35°50′44″S 71°35′57″W / 35.8456°S 71.5992°W / -35.8456; -71.5992