The Catholic Church in Bolivia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. Catholicism was introduced in the 1530s and the first diocese was established in 1552. Evangelization among the Indians bore much fruit from the mid-18th to early 19th century, resuming again in 1840. The country declared independence from Spain in 1825. Today, Bolivia is a predominantly Catholic country. However, the Church was disestablished as the state religion in early 2009 and lost remaining privileges in 2019 with the promulgation of the law on religious freedom. According to a 2018 survey, 70% of Bolivians were Catholics.

Organization

There are seventeen territorial jurisdictions in the country—four archdioceses, six dioceses, and five apostolic vicariates and two Territorial Prelatures: