Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santo Domingo

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santo Domingo (Latin: Archidioecesis Sancti Dominici; Spanish: Arquidiócesis de Santo Domingo) is a Latin Metropolitan Archdiocese in the Dominican Republic. The see was erected 8 August 1511 as the Diocese of Santo Domingo and elevated to archdiocese on 12 February 1546.[1][2]

Archdiocese of Santo Domingo

Archidioecesis Sancti Dominici

Arquidiócesis de Santo Domingo
Basílica Catedral Metropolitana Santa María de la Encarnación
Location
CountryDominican Republic
Ecclesiastical provinceProvince of Santo Domingo
MetropolitanSanto Domingo
Statistics
Area4,033 km2 (1,557 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics (including non-members)		(as of 2010)
5,770,529
4,890,250 (84.7%)
Parishes212
Information
DenominationRoman Catholic
RiteLatin Rite
Established8 August 1511 (509 years ago)
CathedralMetropolitan Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Incarnation
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
ArchbishopFrancisco Ozoria Acosta
Auxiliary BishopsRamón Benito Ángeles Fernández
Faustino Burgos Brisman, CM
José Amable Durán Tineo, elect
Bishops emeritusNicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez
Map

In recognition of the fact that the see was the first established in the Western Hemisphere, the Archbishop of Santo Domingo can use the title of Primate of the Indies, according to the bull of Pope Pius VII Divinis praeceptis issued on 28 November 1816 [3] and ratified by the Concordat between the Holy See and the Dominican Republic signed on 16 June 1954.[4]

The archiepiscopal see is the Santa María la Menor cathedral, a World Heritage Site, dedicated to St. Mary of the Incarnation, which was designated a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XV in his apostolic letter Inter Americae on 14 June 1920.[5]

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 3,457,347 Catholics (95.0% of 3,639,313 total) on 4,032 km² in 214 parishes with 478 priests (190 diocesan, 288 religious), 159 deacons, 2,845 lay religious (610 brothers, 2,235 sisters) and 284 seminarians.

Ecclesiastical province

The Metropolitan's suffragan sees are :

History
  • The Bull of Pope Alexander VI, dated 24 June 1493, designated the Franciscan Bernardo Buil (Boil) to accompany Christopher Columbus on his second voyage of discovery, with faculties as Apostolic delegate or vicar. He did not make the journey, and his Benedictine near-namesake did. On 30 August 1495, a band of Franciscans and other missioners did arrive in Hispaniola.[6]
  • The see was erected on 8 August 1511 by Pope Julius II by the Bull Pontifex Romanus, which also established the bishoprics of Concepción de la Vega and the San Juan of Porto Rico, on Antillian Spanish-colonial territory split off from the Archdiocese of Seville. Three prelates, who had been appointed to the sees comprising the ecclesiastical province created in 1504 by the same pope, united their petition to that of the Crown in requesting the Holy See to suppress them and to establish the three new dioceses as suffragans to the See of Seville. This alteration was effected before any of the prelates in question had taken possession of his diocese or been consecrated a bishop. - Father Francisco Garcia de Padilla, a Franciscan, who in 1504 had been designed to occupy the See of Diocese of Bayuna (Baynoa, Baiunensis), was chosen the first bishop of Santo Domingo. He died before his consecration, after having named Rev. Carlos de Aragón his vicar-general and authorized him to take possession of the diocese. The first bishop to occupy the See of Santo Domingo was Alessandro Geraldini, who was appointed in 1516 and died in 1524. He was a native of Italy, and perhaps the only representative of the Americas to attend the Fifth Lateran Council.
  • Lost territories on 1513.08.28 to establish the Diocese of Santa María la Antigua del Darién and on 1517.02.11 to establish the Diocese of Baracoa
  • In 1527 it gained territory from the suppressed Diocese of Concepción de la Vega, which was united, after the death of its first bishop, Pedro Suárez de Deza, to the See of Santo Domingo.
  • Lost territories again : on 1531.06.21 to establish the Diocese of Coro (soon its suffragan), on 1534.01.10 to establish the Diocese of Santa Marta, on 1534.12.18 to establish the Diocese of Guatemala (soon its suffragan) and in 1539 to establish the Diocese of Honduras
  • Pope Paul III on 12 February 1546 elevated Santo Domingo to Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santa Domingo, and the incumbent of the see at the time, Bishop Alonso de Fuenmayor, became its first archbishop. As first the newly Metropolitan see of Santo Domingo had five Caribbean suffragan sees: two Antillian -Diocese of Puerto Rico and Diocese of Santiago (de Cuba) on Cuba- and three continental : Diocese of Coro (its daughter) in Venezuela, Diocese of Santa Marta in Colombia and the Diocese of Guatemala (its daughter).
  • In 1848 it was demoted as non-metropolitan Archdiocese of Santo Domingo / Sancti Dominici (Latin)
  • Lost (Haitian) territories (French side of Hispaniola island) on 1861.10.03 to establish Metropolitan Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince, Diocese of Cap-Haïtien, Diocese of Les Cayes, Diocese of Les Gonaives and Diocese of Port-de-Paix
  • Promoted back on 1953.09.25 as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santo Domingo / Sancti Dominici (Latin), having lost more territories to establish Diocese of Santiago de los Caballeros (now Metropolitan), Diocese of La Vega and Territorial Prelature of San Juan de la Maguana (now Roman Catholic Diocese of San Juan de la Maguana)
  • Lost territories thrice later : on 1959.04.01 to establish Diocese of Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia en Higüey, on 1986.11.08 to establish Diocese of Baní and on 1997.02.01 to establish Diocese of San Pedro de Macorís.
  • It enjoyed Papal visits from Pope John Paul II (January 1979, October 1984 and October 1992.10).

Bishops

Ordinaries
Diocese of Santo Domingo

Erected: August 8, 1511

Archdiocese of Santo Domingo

Elevated February 12, 1546

Coadjutor archbishops
  • Elías Rodríguez Ortiz (1857); did not succeed to the see
  • Adolfo Alejandro Nouel y Bobadilla (1904-1906)
  • Luis Antonio de Mena y Steinkoft (1922-1932); did not succeed to the see
  • Octavio Antonio Beras Rojas (1945-1961); future Cardinal
  • Hugo Eduardo Polanco Brito (1970-1975); did not succeed to the see; appointed Archbishop (Personal Title) of Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia en Higüey

Auxiliary bishops
  • Felipe Antonio Gallego Gorgojo, S.J. (1945-1951)
  • Príamo Pericles Tejeda Rosario (1975-1986), appointed Bishop of Baní
  • Juan Félix Pepén y Soliman (1975-1995)
  • Ramón Benito de La Rosa y Carpio (1988-1995), appointed Bishop of Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia en Higüey
  • Francisco José Arnáiz Zarandona, S.J. (1988-2002)
  • Pablo Cedano Cedano (1996–2013)[24]
  • Amancio Escapa Aparici, O.C.D. (1996–2016)
  • Pablo Cedano Cedano (1996-2018)
  • Victor Emilio Masalles Pere (2010-2016), appointed Bishop of Baní
  • Víctor Emilio Masalles Pere (2010–present)
  • Ramón Benito Ángeles Fernández (2017–present)
  • Jesús Castro Marte (2017–2020), appointed Bishop of Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia en Higüey
  • Faustino Burgos Brisman, C.M. (2017–present)
  • José Amable Durán Tineo (2020-present)

See also

References
  1. "Archdiocese of Santo Domingo" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 4, 2017
  2. "Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santo Domingo" GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016
  3. Pius 7.> (1849). Bullarii Romani continuatio Summorum Pontificum Clementis 13., Clementis 14., Pii 6., Pii 7., Leonis 12. et Pii 8. (dal v. 11: ..., Pii 8. et Gregorii 16.) constitutiones, literas in forma brevis, epistolas ad principes viros, et alios, atque allocutiones (poi anche: alloquutiones) complectens: Tomus decimus quartus continens pontificatus Pii 7. annum decimum septimum ad octavum (in Italian). ex typographia Reverendae Camerae Apostolicae. Primatis Indiarum"
  4. "Concordat Watch - Dominican Republic | Trujillo's Concordat (1954)". www.concordatwatch.eu. Retrieved 2020-09-03. The Archbishop of Santo Domingo shall have the title of Primate of the Indies, in accordance with the Bull of Pius VII Divinis Praeceptis of 28th of September 1816.
  5. "Benedictus PP. XV Litterae Apostolicae Inter Americae". Holy See. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  6. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Archdiocese_of_Santo_Domingo
  7. Eubel, Konrad (1923). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentioris aevi. Vol. III (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana. p. 187. (in Latin)
  8. Gauchat, Patritius (Patrice) (1935). HIERARCHIA CATHOLICA MEDII ET RECENTIORIS AEVI Vol IV. Münster: Libraria Regensbergiana. p. 176. (in Latin)
  9. "Archbishop Domingo Valderrama y Centeno, O.P." Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 22, 2016
  10. "Archbishop Cristóbal Rodríguez Juárez (Suárez), O.P." Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 22, 2016
  11. "Archbishop Diego de Contreras, O.S.A." Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 22, 2016
  12. "Archbishop Pedro de Solier y Vargas, O.S.A." Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 22, 2016
  13. "Archbishop Pedro de Oviedo Falconi, O. Cist." Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 22, 2016
  14. "Archbishop Fernando de Vera y Zuñiga, O.S.A." Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 22, 2016
  15. "Archbishop Bernardino de Almansa Carrión" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 22, 2016
  16. "Archbishop Facundo (Fernando) de la Torre, O.S.B." Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 22, 2016
  17. "Archbishop Diego de Guevara y Estrada" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 22, 2016
  18. "Archbishop Maestro Valderas, O. de M." Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 22, 2016
  19. "Archbishop Francisco Pio Guadalupe Tellez" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 22, 2016
  20. "Archbishop Francisco de la Cueva Maldonado" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 22, 2016
  21. Ritzler, Remigius; Sefrin, Pirminus (1952). HIERARCHIA CATHOLICA MEDII ET RECENTIORIS AEVI Vol V. Patavii: Messagero di S. Antonio. pp. 186 and 187. (in Latin)
  22. "Archbishop Juan de Escalante Turcios y Mendoza" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved July 31, 2016
  23. "Archbishop Fernando de Carvajal y Ribera (Rivera), O. de M." Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 22, 2016
  24. http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2013/10/31/0710/01594.html

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Archdiocese of Santo Domingo". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

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