This Tuesday, October 29, 2024, marks the 25th anniversary of the canonical creation of the Apostolic Vicariate of Trinidad, Casanare (Colombia). It was Pope St. John Paul II, who on October 29, 1999, suppressed the Apostolic Vicariate of Casanare and, at the same time, in its territory erected the Diocese of Yopal and the Apostolic Vicariate of Trinidad. This mission territory was entrusted to the Order of Augustinian Recollects by Pope Leo XIII, on June 17, 1893; St. Ezekiel Moreno was its first Apostolic Vicar. The seat of the Vicar is located in the town of Trinidad, from which it takes its name.
The Vicariate is connected to the interior of the country by road and, during the rainy season, also by the Pauto and Meta rivers, facilitating access to the most remote areas of the region. This area continues to be a mission territory, with difficult working conditions for the religious and evangelizers, who have not yet been able to reach all the places on a permanent basis. With an area of approximately 27,075 km² and a population of close to 70,000 inhabitants, the Vicariate covers the municipalities of Trinidad, San Luis de Palenque, Orocué and Maní, as well as the eastern areas of Hato Corozal and Paz de Ariporo and the south of Tauramena.
The pastoral care continues to be the responsibility of the Augustinian Recollects, committed to the mission of the 
Colombian Church. The seat of the Vicariate is located in the town of Trinidad, a place with a deep religious and missionary tradition, and is the most important port on the Pauto River, which flows into the Meta River. Trinidad, founded in colonial times, is the cradle of independence heroes and continues to be the nucleus of ecclesiastical activity in the region.
Its current Vicar Apostolic is Msgr. Héctor Javier Pizarro Acevedoappointed on October 23, 2000.
THE FOOTSTEPS OF OUR RECOLLECT SAINT
“It’s Los Llanos, Los Llanos…!”, exclaimed the guides.
You stopped the horse in front of the immensity.
“It’s Los Llanos, Los Llanos…!”, you repeated with fervor,
, your eyes lit up with inner clarity.
Already sow your ear, already there is harvest in the Llano,
the ripe wheat fields already claim your sickle…
They are still waiting for you to return, the staff in your hand,
the sheep that long for the metal of your voice.
“It’s Los Llanos, Los Llanos…!”, exclaimed the guides, and with that same emotion St. Ezekiel, illuminated by an inner clarity, contemplated the immensity of Casanare. This region, which deeply marked St. Ezekiel and the Order of Augustinian Recollects, has been a pillar of their mission and history in Colombia.
History of the Vicariate
Since 1662, when the Royal Audience of Bogota entrusted the missions of eastern Colombia to the Candelaria friars, Casanare has been an essential and precious part of the Order’s patrimony in Colombia. When St. Ezekiel Moreno arrived to restore the Province of Candelaria, he dedicated his efforts to recover these missions. At the end of 1890, he made a four-month tour, which allowed him to make known in the national press what was then a remote corner of the country. Thanks to his efforts, Casanare became in 1893 the first ecclesiastical missionary jurisdiction in Colombia, with St. Ezekiel as its first Vicar Apostolic.
Continuity of the Augustinian Recollects
St. Ezekiel was bishop of Casanare for less than two years, and he was succeeded by Father Nicolas Casas, another Augustinian Recollect. Since then, all the bishops of the territory have been Recollects. The last Vicar before the erection of the diocese, Bishop Olavio Lopez, saw the need to divide the territory in October 1999, which led to the creation of the diocese of Yopal and the Apostolic Vicariate of Trinidad, with its seat in the town of the same name.
First Bishop of the Vicariate of Trinidad
On November 24, 2000, the appointment of the first Vicar Bishop of Trinidad, Friar Javier Pizarro, also an Augustinian Recollect, was announced. Born in Medellin in 1951, he had dedicated his religious life mainly to the formation of young people. Like St. Ezekiel, he was consecrated in the Cathedral of Bogota on January 27, 2001 and took possession of his see in Trinidad on February 11 of the same year.
