The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bahía Blanca (Archidioecesis Sinus Albi) is an ecclesiastical territory or 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...

 of the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 in the eastern region of the province

Provinces of Argentina

Argentina is subdivided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city...

 of Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires Province

The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...

, Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

. Its motherchurch, located in the city of Bahía Blanca

Bahía Blanca

Bahía Blanca is a city located in the south-west of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, by the Atlantic Ocean, and seat of government of Bahía Blanca Partido. It has a population of 274,509 inhabitants according to the...

, is the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mercy. The Archbishop

Archbishop

An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...

 since 10 May 2003 is Guillermo José Garlatti

Guillermo José Garlatti

----Guillermo José Garlatti ----Guillermo José Garlatti ----Guillermo José Garlatti (Style: His Very Reverend Excellency, Monsignor Guillermo José Garlatti is the Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Bahía Blanca. He was born in Forgaria nel Fiurle, Udine, Northern Italy on July 12,...

.

The territory of the Archdiocese covers 82,624 km² and includes a population of about 700,000 inhabitants, of which 85% (595,000 people) are Catholics, served by 57 parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

es. It covers the partidos (municipalities) of Adolfo Alsina, Adolfo González Chávez, Bahía Blanca, Coronel Dorrego, Coronel de Marina Leonardo Rosales, Coronel Pringles, Coronel Suárez, Daireaux, Guaminí, Monte Hermoso, Patagones, Puán, Saavedra, San Cayetano, Tornquist, Tres Arroyos and Villarino.

The archdiocese is the head of the ecclesiastical province of Bahía Blanca, which encompasses the dioceses of all of the Provinces of Patagonia

Patagonia

Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...

 and Tierra del Fuego

Tierra del Fuego Province (Argentina)

Tierra del Fuego is an Argentine province entirely separated from mainland Argentina by the Strait of Magellan. It includes:* The eastern part of the Isla Grande of Tierra del Fuego archipelago and the Staten Island.* Argentina's claims to the Falkland Islands and to...

, and whose suffragan sees are: Diocese of Alto Valle del Río Negro, Diocese of Comodoro Rivadavia, Diocese of Río Gallegos

Roman Catholic Diocese of Río Gallegos

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rio Gallegos, Argentina, according to the Vatican Information Service has an area of 265,614 square miles, a total population of 300,000, a Catholic population of 210,000, 55 priests, 9 permanent deacons, and 94 religious. It was erected in 1961, and was formed from...

, Diocese of San Carlos de Bariloche, Diocese of Santa Rosa

Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa, Argentina

-Ordinaries:*Jorge Mayer *Adolfo Roque Esteban Arana *Atilano Vidal Núñez *Rinaldo Fidel Brédice...

 and Diocese of Viedma

Diocese of Viedma

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Viedma is encompassed in the Ecclesiastical Province of Bahía Blanca. As of 2006 the Bishop is His Very Reverend Excellency Monsignor Esteban María Laxague, Salesian of Don Bosco appointed by His Holiness Pope John Paul II on October 31, 2002.The Diocese was erected...

.

The diocese was erected on 20 April 1934 by Pope Pius XI

Pope Pius XI

Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...

's bull Nobilis Argentinae nationis, drawing from territories belonging to the Archdiocese of La Plata. Its first bishop was Leandro Bautista Astelarra (1934–1943). It was elevated to an archdiocese on 11 February 1957 by Pope Pius XII

Pope Pius XII

The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....

's bull Quandoquidem adoranda.