Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Cristóbal de la Habana

The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of San Cristobal de la Habana is one of three Catholic Archdioceses in Cuba.[1][2]

Contents

History

Erected originally as Santiago de Cuba, this Latin Rite or Roman Rite diocese was erected as the Diocese of Santiago de Cuba on 10 September 1787 by Pope Pius VI. The original diocese encompassed the provinces of Santa Clara, Matanzas, Havana, and Pinar del Río in Cuba and Florida and Louisiana in what is now The United States of America. On 25 April 1793 the diocese lost territory for what would be the first of four territorial losses when the diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas (Saint Louis of New Orleans) was erected. The diocese would again lose territory 20 February 1903 when the dioceses of Pinar del Río and Cienfuegos were erected, and then again on 10 December 1912 upon the erection of the diocese of Matanzas. Eventually the Diocese of Santiago de Cuba would be suppressed and elevated to the Metropolitan See of Sancti Christophori de Habana, San Cristobal de la Habana on 6 January 1925.

The current Cardinal-Archbishop of Havana is Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino since his elevation and election by Pope John Paul II on 21 November 1981. The Archdiocese currently has two auxiliary bishops to assist the cardinal, Bishop Juan de Dios Hernández-Ruiz, S.J. and Bishop Alfredo Petit-Vergel.

The Archdiocese encompasses 7,542 square kilometres (2,912 sq mi) and has two suffragan dioceses, Matanzas and Pinar del Río. According to a 2004 estimate there were a total of 3.9 million people living within the confines of the diocese, 71.8% or 2.8 million of whom were Roman Catholic. There were 49 diocesan priests and 62 religious priests, totaling 111 priests serving the faithful of the diocese. With these figures, there were approximately 25,225 Catholics per priest. There were 23 permanent deacons and 79 men-religious and 348 women-religious. In 2004, there were 102 established parishes.

Ordinaries of San Cristobal de la Habana

Affiliated and Auxiliary Bishops of the Archdiocese

Churches

References

  1. ^ Archdiocese of San Cristobal de la Habana - From catholic-hierarchy.org
  2. ^ Havana - Catholic Encyclopedia article

External links