Catholic Church in Guyana
The Catholic Church in Guyana is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. Bishops in Guyana are members of Antilles Episcopal Conference. Like most other nations that form the AEC, the Apostolic delegate to the bishops' conference is also the Apostolic nuncio to the country, currently American archbishop Thomas Edward Gullickson.
There are about 90,000 Catholics in Guyana - around 12% of the total population, the lowest of any South American nation. The country forms a single diocese — the Diocese of Georgetown, which was established in 1956.
The Church of England and the Church of Scotland had sole legal rights in Guyana until 1899, when the Catholic Church among others was given equal status. Most Catholics are Portuguese. The Georgetown Diocese was established in 1956. Its first native bishop was ordained in 1971.
