San José de Costa Rica

(SANCTI JOSEPHI DE COSTARICA).

The Republic of Costa Rica , Central America, constitutes this diocese as a suffragan see of the Archdiocese of Guatemala. It was established in 1850, and its Catholic population in 1910 amounted to 368,000, which is practically the total number of inhabitants in the country. There are in the republic: 103 priests, of whom 101 are secular and 12 regular; 68 parish churches; 98 chapels ; 1 seminary ; 1 diocesan college ; 1 academy for girls; 2 orphan asylums ; and 4 hospitals, all supported by the Church. At San José, the capital of the republic and see of the diocese, are located the seminary with 10 students, the diocesan college with 150 pupils; the Academy of the Sisters of Our Lady of Sion with 35 sisters and 100 girls; 1 school for poor girls, connected with the same academy, with 80 pupils; 1 orphan asylum , directed by the Sisters of Charity and caring for 230 orphans. There is in the city of Cartago another orphan asylum, under the Salesian Fathers, with 233 orphans. In 1847 President José M. Castro entered into negotiations with the Holy See and secured the establishment of a bishopric at Costa Rica, and on 10 April, 1851 the Rt. Rev. Anselmo Llorente y La Fuente was appointed the first bishop, and consecrated in Guatemala, 7 Sept., of the same year. The present incumbent is Rt. Rev. Juan Gaspar Stork, consecrated 24 Aug., 1904. The cathedral of San José is the largest and handsomest religious edifice in the capital, and is noted for the dignity and elegance of its architecture. (See COSTA RICA, REPUBLIC OF.)