Diocese of Ocaña, Colombia

Continent: South America

Rite: Roman (Latin)

Type: Diocese Diocese

Name: Ocaña / Ocanien(sis) (Latin)

Ecclesiastical Province: Nueva Pamplona

Depends on: Dicastery for Bishops

Website:

Celebrations

Liturgical Calendar (National) 📅

History

1962.10.26: Established as Diocese of Ocaña / Ocanien(sis) (Latin) (from Diocese of Santa Marta and Apostolic Vicariate of Barrancabermeja and became suffragan of Nueva Pamplona)

Present Prelates

Bishop:	vacant
Apostolic Administrator (2023.01.15 – ...):	Archbishop Jorge Alberto Ossa Soto (67) Metropolitan Archbishop of Nueva Pamplona (Colombia)

Ordinaries

Bishops of Ocaña (Roman Rite)

Archbishop Jorge Alberto Ossa Soto (67)
(Apostolic Administrator 2023.01.15 – ...)

Bishop Luis Gabriel Ramírez Díaz
(2021.02.27 – 2023.01.08)

Born:	1965.11.14 (Margarita, Colombia)
Ordained Priest:	1993.06.12
Consecrated Bishop:	2014.08.23
Died:	2023.01.08 (Medellín, Colombia † 57)

Priest of Santa Marta (Colombia) (1993.06.12 – 2014.06.18)

Apostolic Administrator of El Banco (Colombia) (2013.04.24 – 2014.06.18)

Bishop of El Banco (Colombia) (2014.06.18 – 2021.02.27)

Bishop of Ocaña (Colombia) (2021.02.27 – 2023.01.08)

Apostolic Administrator of El Banco (Colombia) (2021.03.25 – 2023.01.08)

Bishop Gabriel Ángel Villa Vahos (61) (later Archbishop)
(2014.05.15 – 2020.02.11)

Metropolitan Archbishop of Tunja (Colombia)

Quoniam in æternum misericordia ejus

Born:	1962.06.17 (Sopetrán, Colombia)
Ordained Priest:	1989.10.25
Consecrated Bishop:	2014.07.26

Priest of Santa Rosa de Osos (Colombia) (1989.10.25 – 2014.05.15)

Bishop of Ocaña (Colombia) (2014.05.15 – 2020.02.11)

Metropolitan Archbishop of Tunja (Colombia) (2020.02.11 – ...)

Bishop Jorge Enrique Lozano Zafra (86)
(1993.06.28 – 2014.05.15)

Bishop emeritus of Ocaña (Colombia)

Born:	1938.04.13 (Bogotá, Colombia)
Ordained Priest:	1964.12.19
Consecrated Bishop:	1993.08.06

Priest of Bucaramanga (Colombia) (1964.12.19 – 1993.06.28)

Bishop of Ocaña (Colombia) (1993.06.28 – 2014.05.15)

Bishop Ignacio José Gómez Aristizábal (94) (later Archbishop)
(1972.07.24 – 1992.10.10)

Metropolitan Archbishop emeritus of Santa Fe de Antioquia (Colombia)

Born:	1929.12.02 (El Peñol, Colombia)
Ordained Priest:	1958.08.17
Consecrated Bishop:	1972.09.08

Priest of Sonsón–Rionegro (Colombia) (1958.08.17 – 1972.07.24)

Bishop of Ocaña (Colombia) (1972.07.24 – 1992.10.10)

Metropolitan Archbishop of Santa Fe de Antioquia (Colombia) (1992.10.10 – 2007.01.12)

Apostolic Administrator of Barrancabermeja (Colombia) (2009.02 – 2009.12.02)

Apostolic Administrator of Tibú (Colombia) (2010.03 – 2011.06.08)

Bishop Rafael Sarmiento Peralta (later Archbishop)
(1962.10.26 – 1972.07.24)

Born:	1914.11.30 (Colombia)
Ordained Priest:	1938.04.16
Consecrated Bishop:	1963.01.06
Died:	2000.04.25 († 85)

Bishop of Ocaña (Colombia) (1962.10.26 – 1972.07.24)

Bishop of Neiva (Colombia) (1972.07.24 – 1985.01.12)

Metropolitan Archbishop of Nueva Pamplona (Colombia) (1985.01.12 – 1994.06.21)

Special Churches

Cathedral: Catedral de Santa Ana, Ocaña, Norte de Santander

Barrancabermeja (↙), Magangué (←), El Banco (↑), Tibú (→), Cúcuta (↘), Nueva Pamplona (↘), Bucaramanga (↓)

Statistics (2022.12.31)

Area: 18,000 km²

Population: 593,000 Catholics (72.0% of 824,000 total)

Pastoral Centres: 46 parishes, 8 missions

Personnel: 99 priests (95 diocesan, 4 religious), 5 deacons, 67 religious (28 brothers, 39 sisters), 40 seminarians