Uruguayana, Diocese of (URUGUAYANENSIS), suffragan of Porto Alegre, Brazil. By a Decree dated August 15, 1910, the See of Sao Pedro do Rio Grande was raised to archiepiscopal rank, with the title of Porto Alegre, three new dioceses being separated from its territory. Fifteen parishes were allotted to the Diocese of Uruguayana, which includes the western portion of Rio Grande do Sul, bounded on the south by the Provinces of Artigas and Rivera (Uruguay) and on the west by the Rio Uruguay. This fertile territory has important stock breeding and dried beef industries. The town of Uruguayana (14,000 inhabitants) is situated on the Rio Uruguay, 360 miles west of Porto Alegre, with which it is connected by rail; it lies opposite the Argentine town of Restauracion and has extensive trade by river and rail with Montevideo and Buenos Aires. It was founded in 1843 by order of the revolutionary Government of Rio Grande. On August 5, 1865, it was taken by the invading Paraguayan army, but on September 18 following, the invaders, numbering 6000 men, had to capitulate to the allied forces of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. The two other chief towns are Alegrete (9000 inhabitants) on the left bank of the Rio Ibirapuitan, and Quarahy (6500 inhabitants) opposite the town of Santo Eugenio (Uruguay). Numerous flourishing missions were founded by the Jesuits in this territory along the eastern bank of the Rio Uruguay from 1632 to 1707, but the fruits of their labors were lost on the expulsion of the order (see Reductions of Paraguay). The first bishop of the new see is Msgr. Hermes Joseph Pinheiro, b. at Traipu, in the Diocese of Alagoas, 1871; he studied at Olinda, was ordained in 1901, appointed parish priest at Boa Vista and canon of Olinda, and nominated Bishop of Uruguayana on May 12, 1911. The cathedral church is dedicated to St. Anne.
A. A. MACERLEAN