Diocese of Limeira, Brazil 🇧🇷

Rite: Roman (Latin)

Name: Limeira / Limeiren(sis) (Latin)

Ecclesiastical Province: Campinas

Neighbouring Dioceses: Piracicaba (↙), Ribeirão Preto (↖), São Carlos (↖), São João da Boa Vista (↗), Amparo (→), Campinas (↘)

Depends on: Dicastery for Bishops

Websites:

Celebrations

Patron Saint: Nossa Senhora das Dores (September 15)

Liturgical Calendar (National) 📅

History

1976.04.29: Established as Diocese of Limeira / Limeiren(sis) (Latin) (from Metropolitan Archdiocese of Campinas and Diocese of Piracicaba and became suffragan of Campinas)
1997.12.23: Lost territory to establish Diocese of Amparo

Present Prelates

Bishop (2026.11.04 – ...):

Bishop Carlos José de Oliveira (59)

Monsignors (5)

Ordinaries

Bishops of Limeira (Roman Rite)

Bishop Carlos José de Oliveira (59)
(2026.11.04 – ...)

Bishop of Limeira (Brazil)

Cum Maria matre Jesu

Born:	1967.10.17 (Botucatu, SP, Brazil)
Ordained Priest:	1992.10.04
Consecrated Bishop:	2019.03.19

Priest of Mogi das Cruzes (Brazil) (1992.10.04 – 1996)

Priest of Botucatu (Brazil) (1996 – 2018.12.12)

Chaplain of His Holiness (2007.10.04 – 2018.12.12)

Bishop of Apucarana (Brazil) (2018.12.12 – 2026.11.04)

Bishop of Limeira (Brazil) (2026.11.04 – ...)

Bishop José Roberto Fortes Palau (61) (later Archbishop)
(2019.11.20 – 2026.01.08)

Metropolitan Archbishop of Sorocaba (Brazil)

A verdade vos libertará

Born:	1965.04.09 (Jacareí, SP, Brazil)
Ordained Priest:	1993.02.06
Consecrated Bishop:	2014.06.21

Priest of São José dos Campos (Brazil) (1993.02.06 – 2014.04.30)

Titular Bishop of Acufida (2014.04.30 – 2019.11.20)

Auxiliary Bishop of São Paulo (Brazil) (2014.04.30 – 2019.11.20)

Bishop of Limeira (Brazil) (2019.11.20 – 2026.01.08)

Metropolitan Archbishop of Sorocaba (Brazil) (2026.01.08 – ...)

Archbishop Orlando Brandes (80)
(Apostolic Administrator 2019.05.17 – 2019.11.20)

Bishop Vilson Dias de Oliveira, D.C. (67)
(2007.06.13 – 2019.05.17)

Bishop emeritus of Limeira (Brazil)

Cristo é a nossa paz

Born:	1958.11.26 (Guaíra, PR, Brazil)
Ordained Priest:	1984.04.22
Consecrated Bishop:	2007.09.01

Bishop of Limeira (Brazil) (2007.06.13 – 2019.05.17)

Bishop Augusto José Zini Filho
(2003.01.22 – 2006.11.15)

Frater inter fratres

Born:	1932.11.26 (Poços de Caldas, MG, Brazil)
Ordained Priest:	1959.06.29
Consecrated Bishop:	1994.09.08
Died:	2006.11.15 (Limeira, SP, Brazil † 73)

Chaplain of His Holiness (1993.07.15 – 1994.07.13)

Titular Bishop of Megalopolis in Proconsulari (1994.07.13 – 2003.01.22)

Auxiliary Bishop of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) (1994.07.13 – 2003.01.22)

Bishop of Limeira (Brazil) (2003.01.22 – 2006.11.15)

Bishop Ercílio Turco
(1989.11.18 – 2002.04.24)

Evangelium Dei evangelizare

Born:	1938.03.13 (Campinas, SP, Brazil)
Ordained Priest:	1963.12.01
Consecrated Bishop:	1990.02.04
Died:	2019.10.30 (São Paulo, SP, Brazil † 81)

Priest of Campinas (Brazil) (1963.12.01 – 1989.11.18)

Bishop of Limeira (Brazil) (1989.11.18 – 2002.04.24)

Bishop of Osasco (Brazil) (2002.04.24 – 2014.04.16)

Bishop Fernando Legal, S.D.B.
(1985.04.25 – 1989.03.15)

Cum Matre Jesu

Born:	1931.12.17 (São Paulo, SP, Brazil)
Ordained Priest:	1959.12.08
Consecrated Bishop:	1980.05.31
Died:	2023.08.22 (São Paulo, SP, Brazil † 91)

Bishop of Itapeva (Brazil) (1980.03.28 – 1985.04.25)

Bishop of Limeira (Brazil) (1985.04.25 – 1989.03.15)

Bishop of São Miguel Paulista (Brazil) (1989.03.15 – 2008.01.09)

Bishop Tarcísio Ariovaldo Amaral, C.SS.R.
(1976.04.29 – 1984.04.14)

Sicut qui ministrat

Born:	1919.12.23 (Tabatinga, MG, Brazil)
Ordained Priest:	1943.08.01
Consecrated Bishop:	1976.06.25
Died:	1994.11.02 (Aparecida, SP, Brazil † 74)

Superior General of Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists) (1967 – 1973)

Bishop of Limeira (Brazil) (1976.04.29 – 1984.04.14)

Bishop of Campanha (Brazil) (1984.04.14 – 1991.05.15)

Special Churches

Cathedral: Catedral Nossa Senhora das Dores, Limeira, São Paulo
Minor Basilica: Basílica Nossa Senhora do Patrocínio, Araras, São Paulo
Minor Basilica: Basílica Santo Antônio de Pádua, Americana, São Paulo
Jubilee Churches in the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy (2016)
Jubilee Churches in the Holy Year 2025

Churches by City (99)

Piracicaba (↙), Ribeirão Preto (↖), São Carlos (↖), São João da Boa Vista (↗), Amparo (→), Campinas (↘)

Statistics (2022.12.31)

Area: 4,915 km²

Population: 706,426 Catholics (58.0% of 1,217,976 total)

Pastoral Centres: 99 parishes

Personnel: 103 priests (91 diocesan, 12 religious), 21 deacons, 67 religious (15 brothers, 52 sisters), 9 seminarians