Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 8.djvu/877

 LA PAZ

795

LA PAZ

The vast extent of territory in Further India embraced within the ecclesiastical unit is politically divided. The country to the west of the Mekong River, except- ing the Province of Bassak, is included in the King- dom of Siam; that east of the river is under French rule. The vicariate embraces the whole of the Me- kong valley from the frontiers of Cambodia as far as those of china; on the west is the Menam with tribu- tary streams; the mountains of Anam and Tongking form the eastern boundary, excluding the district of Attopeu which is attached to the Vicariate of Eastern Cochin-China. The ranks of the missionaries have been frequently thinned owing to the unhealthy nature of the climate; epidemics of cholera morbus and bubonic plague are of constant recurrence.

The vicariate is entrusted to the Paris Society of Missions Etrangeres, with residence at Nong-Seng in the province of Nakhon-Phanom. The present Apos- tolic vicar is Mgr Marie-Joseph Cuaz, titular Bishop of Hermopolis Minor. He was born at Lyons, France, 8 Dec, 1862; elected 30 April, 1899; preconized 22 June, 1899; and consecrated on 3 Sept. of the same year. The history of the territory previous to its formation into a separate vicariate is given in Piolet, "Les Missions", II (Paris, s. d.), xiii; cf. Neher in " Kirchenlex.", VI, 683. The most recent avaihible religious statistics may be found in Indo-China (French), sub-title Present Condition of the Catholic Church in French Indo-China.

Missioties Catkolicw (Rome, 1907) ; Reinhoi.d iq Buchberger, Kirrhtirhes Handlex., 3. v.; Annuaire Pontifical Caiholique (1910); Gerarchia Cattolica (1910); Herder, Kunt'ersalioiis- LexikoTit 3. v. Lao.

P. J. Mac.^uley.

La Paz, Diocese of (Pacensis), in Bolivia. The city is the capital of the department of the same name, is the most populous city of the Republic of Bolivia, and since 1899 its capital. It is about thirty miles south-east of Lake Titicaca, is connected by railway with the Peruvian harbour town of Puno, situated on the lake, and is 12,200 feet above sea-level. The city is regularly laid out, but built on very steep ground, and according to the last census (190(3) has a popula- tion of 54,713, chiefly mestizos (called chohs) and Aymara Indians. The most prominent buildings are a new cathedral built in the eighties of white marble with Corinthian columns, situated on the steep plaza, and the monastic churches of Santo Domingo, San Francisco, and San Juan de Dios. The monasteries attached to these churches, although secularized im- mediately after the establishment of the republic, were later restored to their respective orders. The most important monasteries of men are San Francisco, La Merced, and La Recoleta; there are also the con- vents of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, and the Carmelite nuns (El Carmen), both new buildings which the city government of La Paz made an unsuc- cessful attempt, in 1909, to confiscate for school pur- poses, ostensibly because, unlike the other orders of women in the city engaged in teaching or nursing, these two devoted themselves to the contemplative life (see the protest of Bishop .\rmentia in the " Bole- tin Eclesi.'istico", No. 8, 1909). French Sisters of Charity conduct both the city hospitals and a medical school is attached to the Loaiza IIos|)ital for women. The Academia Aymara was founilcd in 1900 to foster the study of history, and publishes the " .\cademia .\ymara" (La Paz, 1901 — ). The Sociedad Geognifica de la Paz, founded in 1889 and reorganized in 1896, with four sections, for astronomy, physics, political ' science, and commerce respectively, publishes the "Boleti'n", as well as separate works. Finally, the Institution Lejion, formed in 1908 from the Federa- cion Enciclop<5dica, Sociedad Enciclop<^dica Filantro- pica, and the Union Filarmoniea, for the promotion of the study of natural science, and also of philo- sophical and sociological studies, issues the " Revista".

La Paz is one of the oldest Spanish colonies on the table-land of Old Peru. In 1549 the city was founded by Captain Alonzo de Mendoza (according to others, about 1548, by Diaz de Medina) on the site of an ear- lier Indian settlement called Chuquiabo ("gold field", because gold was washed here). To commemorate the restoration of peace after the civil war following the insurrection of Gonzalo Picarro, the city was called Nuestra Seiiora de la Paz. .\fter the victory of the patriot army under General Sucre at Ayacucho (1824) it was named La Paz de Ayacucho, but the latter designation was used as seldom .as the former, and the city, afterwards as before, was called simply " La Paz". One of the most remarkable events in its his- tory was the siege endured during the Indian revolt under Tupac .\maru in 1780, heroically repulsed by the commandant of the town, Sebastiano Segurola. Later, during the South American struggles for inde- pendence. La Paz was one of the tirst cities to join the

movement. On 16 July, 1809, citizens and soldiers rose, at first, it is true, only against the French party and in favour of Ferdinand VII, but with the ultimate object of freeing themselves from the mother country. This first uprising was suppressed by General Goye- neche, who was sent from Lima against the insur- gents, and had all the chiefs executed. After the battle of Ayacucho La Paz was the head-quarters of General Sucre and since then, at intervals, has been the capital of the country.

The Diocese of La Paz was separated from that of Charcas by Paul V, 4 July, 1605 (see La Plata, Dio- cese of). In the records of the Audiencia de Charcas, preserved in the "Archivo General de Indias" at Simancas, Diego de Zambrana y Guzman appears to have been the first bishop, though he apparently did not take possession of his see. The first bishop vouched for by history was Domingo Balderrama, O.P., who assumed office in 1610 (d. 1615). He was succeeded in 1616 by Pedro de Valencia, who died in 1631, blind and an octogenarian. The next bishop, highly trained in law and literature, was Feliciano de la Vega, from 1628 Bishop of Popaviin, who remained for only a year (1639) at the head of the diocese. He published the first syno<lal constitutions and died in 1640, .\rchbishop of Mexico. Among the subsequent bishops the following are prominent: .\ntonio de Castro y Ca.stillo, O.F.M. (l48-53), whose detailed report on his diocese is preserved in the .\rchi\'o Gen- eral lie Indias at Simancas (printed in the " Boletfn lOclcsiM.stico", 1908-9, No. 5 sqq,); Juan de Queipo; Llano y Valdos (1681-95), who finished the first ca- thedral (1685) and was subsequently transferred to