Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santo Domingo

Archdiocese of Santo Domingo
Archidioecesis Sancti Dominici
Arquidiócesis de Santo Domingo

Basílica Catedral Metropolitana Santa María de la Encarnación
Location
Country Dominican Republic
Ecclesiastical province Province of Santo Domingo
Metropolitan Santo Domingo
Statistics
Area 4,033 km2 (1,557 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		 (as of 2010)
5,770,529
4,890,250 (84.7%)
Parishes 212
Information
Denomination Roman Catholic
Rite Latin Rite
Established 8 August 1511 (504 years ago)
Cathedral Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Incarnation
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Archbishop Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez
Auxiliary Bishops Amancio Escapa Aparicio, O.C.D.
Victor Emilio Masalles Pere
Emeritus Bishops Pablo Cedano Cedano
Map

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santo Domingo (Latin: Archidioecesis Sancti Dominici; Spanish: Arquidiócesis de Santo Domingo) (erected 8 August 1511 as the Diocese of Santo Domingo) is a Metropolitan Archdiocese in the Dominican Republic. Its suffragan dioceses are Baní, Barahona, Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia en Higüey, San Juan de la Maguana and San Pedro de Macorís. The see was elevated to an archdiocese on 12 February 1546.

History

The see was erected by Pope Julius II by the Bull Pontifex Romanus which also established the See of Concepción de la Vega and the See of San Juan of Porto Rico. 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 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.

Pope Paul III on 12 February 1545 elevated Santo Domingo to the rank of an archdiocese, and the incumbent of the see at the time, Bishop Alonso de Fuenmayor, became its first archbishop. As the first metropolitan see of America Santo Domingo had five suffragan sees: Diocese of Puerto Rico, Diocese of Santiago in Cuba, Diocese of Coro in Venezuela, Diocese of Santa Marta in Colombia, and Diocese of Guatemala. The Diocese of Concepción de la Vega had been united, after the death of its first bishop, Pedro Suárez de Deza, to the See of Santo Domingo by Apostolic authority.

The Bull of Pope Alexander VI, dated 24 June 1493, designated the Franciscan Bernardo Buil (Boil) to accompany 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.[1]

In recognition of the see being the first established in the Western Hemisphere, the Archbishop of Santo Domingo can use the title of Primate of the Americas, according to the bull of Pope Pius VII Divinis praeceptis issued on 28 November 1816 and ratified by the Concordat between the Holy See and Dominican Republic signed on 16 June 1954. The see's most important parish is the Santa María la Menor cathedral, which was designated a minor basilica by Benedict XV in his Inter Americae.

Ordinaries

Diocese of Santo Domingo

Erected: August 8, 1511

Archdiocese of Santo Domingo

Elevated February 12, 1546

Auxiliary bishops

Territorial losses

Year Along with To form
1861 Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince
Diocese of Les Cayes
Diocese of Les Gonaïves
Diocese of Cap-Haïtien
Diocese of Port-de-Paix
1953 Diocese of La Vega
Territorial Prelature of San Juan de la Maguana
Diocese of Santiago de los Caballeros
1959 Diocese of Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia en Higüey
1986 Diocese of Baní

References

  1. ↑ http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Archdiocese_of_Santo_Domingo
  2. ↑ Catholic Hierarchy: "Bishop Francisco Garcia de Padilla, O.F.M." retrieved January 22, 2016
  3. ↑ Catholic Hierarchy: "Bishop Alejandro Geraldini (Gerardini, Gueraldini)" retrieved December 4, 2015
  4. ↑ Catholic Hierarchy: "Bishop Sebastián Ramírez de Fuenleal (Arellano)" retrieved January 12, 2016
  5. ↑ Catholic Hierarchy: "Archbishop Diego de Covarrubias y Leiva" retrieved January 10, 2015
  6. ↑ Catholic Hierarchy: "Archbishop Francisco Andrés de Carvajal, O.F.M." retrieved December 4, 2015
  7. ↑ Catholic Hierarchy: "Archbishop Alfonso López de Avila" retrieved December 4, 2015
  8. ↑ Catholic Hierarchy: "Archbishop Nicolás de Ramos y Santos, O.F.M." retrieved December 4, 2015
  9. ↑ Catholic Hierarchy: "Archbishop Cristóbal Rodríguez Juárez (Suárez), O.P." retrieved January 30, 2016
  10. ↑ Catholic Hierarchy: "Archbishop Pedro de Solier y Vargas, O.S.A." retrieved December 4, 2015
  11. ↑ Catholic Hierarchy: "Archbishop Pedro de Oviedo Falconi, O. Cist." retrieved December 4, 2015
  12. ↑ Catholic Hierarchy: "Archbishop Fernando de Vera y Zuñiga, O.S.A." retrieved December 4, 2015
  13. ↑ Catholic Hierarchy: "Archbishop Bernardino de Almansa Carrión" retrieved December 4, 2015
  14. ↑ Catholic Hierarchy: "Archbishop Facundo (Fernando) de la Torre, O.S.B." retrieved December 4, 2015
  15. ↑ Catholic Hierarchy: "Archbishop Diego de Guevara y Estrada" retrieved December 4, 2015
  16. ↑ http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2013/10/31/0710/01594.html

External links

 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. 

Coordinates: 18°28′23″N 69°53′02″W / 18.47306°N 69.88389°W / 18.47306; -69.88389

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