São Luiz de Cáceres

(SANCTI ALOYSII DE CACERES).

Diocese in Brazil, suffragan of Cuyabá, from which diocese (archdiocese since 5 April, 1910) it was separated by a papal Decree of 10 March, 1910. São Luiz de Cáceres, otherwise known as Villa Maria, is situated in the State of Matto Grosso on the left bank of the Rio Paraguay about 115 miles W.S.W. of Cuyabá and 50 miles from the Bolivian boundary. Founded in 1776 by Luiz de Albuquerque de Mello Pereira e Cáceres as a fort to oppose the Spaniards and called Maria in honor of the Queen of Portugal, it was chartered as a town in 1859. In 1895 its population was only about 1500 (mostly Indians), but owing to the increasing commerce between Matto Grosso and the South which is carried on entirely by river, São Luiz (being the most southerly Brazilian port on the Rio Paraguay) has become an important centre. The cathedral church is dedicated to St. Aloysius. The diocesan statistics are not yet available.