Tucuman, Diocese of (TUCUMANENSIS), suffragan to Buenos Aires, erected from the Diocese of Salta on February 15, 1897, comprises the Province of Tucuman (area 8926 sq. miles; population 325,000), in the northwest of the Argentine Republic. The first and present bishop, Msgr. Pablo Padilla y Barana (b. at Jujuy, January 25, 1848), was consecrated titular Bishop of Pentacomia (December 17, 1891), transferred to Salta, (January 19, 1893), and to Tucuman (January 16, 1898). The episcopal city, Tucuman, or San Miguel de Tucuman (population 80,000), is situated on the Rio Dulee, 780 miles northwest of Buenos Aires, and was founded in 1565 by Diego de Villaruel; a Jesuit college was opened there in 1586. In 1680 Tucuman replaced Santiago del Estero as capital of the province. The Spanish forces were utterly defeated at Tucuman in 1812 by the Argentinos under Belgrano, whose statue has been erected in the city to commemorate the victory. One of the most interesting monuments in Tucuman is Independence Hall, where the Argentine delegates proclaimed (July 9, 1816) the Rio de la Plata provinces free from Spanish domination. Of the twenty-seven members forming this National Congress fifteen were priests (as were two other delegates who were unavoidably absent, and the secretary of the assembly, Jose Agustin Molina, later Bishop of Camaco in partibus and Vicar Apostolic of Salta); two of the fifteen were afterwards raised to episcopal rank—Jose Colombres (Salta) and Justo Santa Maria de Oro (Cuyo). It is to be noted that the See of Cordoba, founded in 1570, was generally referred to in the seventeenth century as that of Tucuman (Cordoba de Tucuman).
On January 21, 1910, the Province of Catamarca (area 47,531 sq. miles; population 107,000), which till then had been a vicariate forane of Tucuman, was erected into a separate see under Msgr. Bernabe Piedrabuena (b. at Tucuman, November 10, 1863; consecrated titular Bishop of Cestrus and coadjutor to Msgr. Padillo, May 31, 1908; transferred to Catamarca, November 8, 1910). Before the separation, Tucuman had 15 parishes, 67 churches and chapels, and Catamarca 15 parishes, 96 churches and chapels; there were 60 secular priests, assisted by Dominicans, Francis-cans, and Fathers of Our Lady of Lourdes; there was a conciliar seminary with 3 students of philosophy and 60 rhetoricians; 7 theological students were studying at Buenos Aires and the Collegio Pio-Latino, Rome; in addition there were two Catholic colleges at Tucuman and one at Catamarca; there were communities of the Hermanas Esclavas, Dominican, Franciscan, Good Shepherd, and Josephine Sisters. A Catholic daily paper is published at Tucuman and two Catholic weeklies at Catamarca. A large number of the parishes have the usual Catholic sodalities and confraternities. Workingmen’s circles are established in the two episcopal cities. Catamarca (San Fernando de Catamarca), lying 230 miles north-northwest of Cordoba, contains 8000 inhabitants. It was founded in 1680 by Fernando de Mendoza. The National College, which has a chair of mineralogy, is located in the old Merced Convent. Most of the inhabitants of the Province of Catamarca are mestizos, descendants of the Quilene, Cilian, Andagala, and Guafare Indians. Cholla (a suburb of Catamarca) is inhabited by Calchaqui Indians, but Spanish is now the only language spoken.
A. A. MACERLEAN