Roman Catholic Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas

The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas (Latin: Dioecesis Sancti Christophori de las Casas) (erected 19 March 1539 as the Diocese of Chiapas,[1] renamed 27 October 1964) is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Tuxtla. Its see is in San Cristóbal de las Casas in Chiapas.[2][3] In November 2017 Rodrigo Aguilar Martínez was appointed new bishop on the resignation of Bishop Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel.[4]

Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas Dioecesis Sancti Christophori de las Casas Diócesis de San Cristóbal de Las Casas
Catedral de San Cristóbal
Location
Country	Mexico
Ecclesiastical province	Province of Tuxtla
Metropolitan	San Cristóbal de Las Casas
Statistics
Area	8,740 sq mi (22,600 km^2)
Population - Total - Catholics (including non-members)	(as of 2010) 1,691,000 1,346,000 (79.6%)
Parishes	52
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	19 March 1539 (481 years ago)
Cathedral	Saint Mark's Cathedral
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Rodrigo Aguilar Martínez
Metropolitan Archbishop	Domingo Díaz Martínez
Auxiliary Bishops	Luis Manuel López Alfaro
Bishops emeritus	Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel
Map
Website
ualcor.wix.com/dscl

Bishops

Ordinaries

Diocese of Chiapas

Erected: 19 March 1539

• Juan de Urteaga, O.S.H. (1539–1540 died)[5]
• Juan de Arteaga y Avendaño (1540–1540, died)[5]
• Bartolomé de las Casas, O.P. (1543–1550, resigned)[5]
• Tomás Casillas, O.P. (1551–1567, died)[5]
• Pedro Martín Fernández, O.P. (1574–1588, died)[5]
• Andrés de Ubilla, O.P. (1592–1603, appointed Bishop of Michoacán)[5]
• Lucas Duran, O.S. (1605–1607, resigned)
• Juan Pedro González de Mendoza, O.S.A. (1607–1608, appointed Bishop of Popayán)
• Juan Tomás de Blanes, O.P. (1609–1612, died)
• Juan de Zapata y Sandoval, O.S.A. (1613–1621, appointed Bishop of Santiago de Guatemala)
• Bernardino de Salazar y Frías (1621–1626, died)
• Agustín de Ugarte y Sarabia (1629–1630, appointed Bishop of Santiago de Guatemala)
• Marcos Ramírez de Prado y Ovando, O.F.M. (1633–1639, appointed Bishop of Michoacán)
• Cristóbal Pérez Lazarraga y Maneli Viana, O. Cist. (1639–1640, appointed Bishop of Cartagena)
• Domingo Ramírez de Arellano, O.S.H. (1640–1652, appointed Bishop of Yucatán)
• Mauro Diego de Tovar y Valle Maldonado, O.S.B. (1652–1666, died)
• Bernardo Cristóbal de Quirós (1670–1672, appointed Bishop of Popayán)
• Marcos Bravo de la Serna Manrique (1674–1680, died)
• Francisco Núñez de la Vega, O.P. (1682–1706, died)
• Juan Bautista Alvarez de Toledo, O.F.M. (1708–1714, appointed Bishop of Santiago de Guatemala)
• Jacinto Olivera y Pardo (1714–1733, died)
• José Cubero Ramírez de Arellano, O. de M. (1734–1752, died)
• José Vidal de Moctezuma y Tobar, O. de M. (1753–1766, died)
• Miguel Cilieza y Velasco (1767–1768, died)
• Lucas Ramírez Galán, O.F.M.Obs. (1769–1769, confirmed Archbishop of Santafé en Nueva Granada)
• Juan Manuel Garcia de Vargas y Ribera, O. de M. (1769–1774, died)
• Antonio Caballero y Góngora (1775–1775, confirmed Bishop of Yucatán)
• Francisco Polanco (1775–1784, died)
• Jose Martinez Palomino y Lopez de Lorena (1785–1788, resigned)
• Francisco Gabriel de Olivares y Benito (1788–1795, appointed Bishop of Durango)
• Fermín José Fuero y Gómez Martinez Arañon (1795–1800, died)
• Andrés Ambrosio de Llanos y Valdés, O.F.M. (1801–1815, died)
• Salvador de Sanmartin y Cuevas (1816–1821, died)
• Luis García Guillén, O. de M. (1831–1834, died)
• José María Luciano Becerra y Jiménez (1839–1852, appointed Bishop of Tlaxcala)
• Carlos María Colina y Rubio (1854–1863, appointed Bishop of Tlaxcala)
• Carlos Manuel Ladrón de Guevara (1863–1869, died)
• Germán de Ascensión Villalvazo y Rodríguez (1869–1879, died)
• Ramón María de San José Moreno y Castañeda, O. Carm. (1879–1882, resigned)
• Miguel Mariano Luque y Ayerdi (1884–1901, died)
• Francisco Orozco y Jiménez (1902–1912, appointed Archbishop of Guadalajara)
• Maximino Ruiz y Flores (1913–1920, resigned)
• Gerardo Anaya y Diez de Bonilla (1920–1941, appointed Bishop of San Luis Potosí)
• Lucio Torreblanca y Tapia (1944–1959, appointed Bishop of Durango)
• Samuel Ruiz García (1959–1964)

Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas

Name Changed: 27 October 1964

• Samuel Ruiz García (27 Oct 1964 - 13 Mar 2000, retired)
• Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel (31 Mar 2000 - 3 November 2017, resigned)[6]
• Rodrigo Aguilar Martínez (3 November 2017 – present)[4]

Coadjutor bishop

• José Raúl Vera López, O.P. (1995-1999); did not succeed to see; appointed Bishop of Saltillo, Coahuila
• Enrique Díaz Díaz (2014-2017); did not succeed the see; appointed Bishop of Irapuato

Auxiliary bishop

• Enrique Díaz Díaz (2003-2014), appointed Coadjutor here
• Luis Manuel López Alfaro (2020-)

References

1. Eric Zolov (26 August 2015). Iconic Mexico: An Encyclopedia from Acapulco to Zócalo. ABC-CLIO. p. 308. ISBN 978-1-61069-044-7. In 1543 Las Casas was named bishop of Chiapa (later renamed Chiapas) in southern Mexico, a see that was very large, covering much of southern Mexico, Yucatán, and parts of Guatemala.
2. "Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016
3. "Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas" GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016
4. "Resignation of bishop of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Mexico, and appointment of successor". Vatican Press. March 11, 2017.
5. Eubel, Konrad (1923). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentioris aevi. Vol. III (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana. p. 165. (in Latin)
6. "Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. Retrieved April 10, 2016.

• Alcedo, Antonio de (1786). Diccionario geográfico-histórico de las Indias Occidentales ó América: es á saber: de los reynos del Perú, Nueva España, Tierra Firme, Chile, y Nuevo reyno de Granada (in Spanish). vol. 1. Madrid: Benito Cano. OCLC 2414115.
• Cheney, David M. (1996). "Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas / Dioecesis Sancti Christophori de las Casas". The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church: Current and historical information about its bishops and dioceses. Catholic-Hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2007-02-11.