La Imperial or Ciudad Imperial was a city founded by

Pedro de Valdivia Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva (; April 17, 1497 – December 25, 1553) was a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, whe ...

on 16 April 1552 and named in honor of the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

Charles V, then (also) king of Spain. It was abandoned on 5 April 1600 and destroyed as a result of the Mapuche Uprising of 1598 during the

War of Arauco The Arauco War was a long-running conflict between colonial Spaniards and the Mapuche people, mostly fought in the Araucanía (historic region), Araucanía. The conflict began at first as a reaction to the Spanish conquerors attempting to estab ...

. The ruins ('old city') were called Antigua Imperial. A city was refounded there in 1882 under the name

Carahue Carahue () is a city and commune in southern Chile. It is located 56 km west of Temuco, on the northern bank of the Imperial River. The city was founded as La Imperial on April 16, 1552 by Pedro de Valdivia. La Imperial or Antigua ldImper ...

Ecclesiastical history

* Established on 1563.05.22 as Diocese of La Imperial (Spanish) / Civitatis Imperialis (Latin, actually corresponding to 'Ciudad Imperial') on territory split off (with border at the river Maule) from the only two year older Diocese of Santiago de Chile (now Metropolitan, in the Chilean national capital) as

Suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

of the (

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

vian)

Archdiocese of Lima The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lima ( la, Archidioecesis Limana) is part of the Roman Catholic Church in Peru which enjoys full communion with the Holy See. The Archdiocese was founded as the Diocese of Lima on 14 May 1541. The diocese was r ...

* Suppressed in 1603, as the city was destroyed in 1600, its territory being reassigned to establish (at present

Penco Penco (Mapudungun: See (''Pen''), Water (''Ko'')), is a Chilean city and commune in Concepción Province, Bío Bío Region on the Bay of Concepción. Founded as the city of Concepción del Nuevo Extremo ('beginning of the new extreme') on Februa ...

) the then Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Concepción (now Metropolitan). ;''Suffragan bishops of La Imperial'' * Antonio de San Miguel Avendaño y Paz,

Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (also called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi. The order adheres to the teachin ...

(O.F.M.) (1563.03.22 – 1588.03.09), next Bishop of

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...

(

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

) (1588.03.09 – death 1590.11.07) * Agustín de Cisneros Montesa (1589.03.09 – death 1596) * Reginaldo de Lizárraga,

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

(O.P.) (Spaniard) (1598.08.31 – 1603), next first Bishop of successor see Concepción (Chile) (1603 – 1609.07.20), Bishop of

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

(Paraguay) (1609.07.20 – 1609.11.10).

Titular see

The diocese was nominally restored in 2000 as Latin Titular bishopric of La Imperial (Spanish) / Civitatis Imperialis (Latin)''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 912 It has had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank : *

Ricardo Ezzati Andrello Ricardo Ezzati Andrello (, ; born 7 January 1942) is an Italian-Chilean prelate of the Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of Santiago de Chile from December 2010 to March 2019 and has been a cardinal since February 2014. He previously served ...

, Salesians (S.D.B.) (Italian) (10 July 2001 - 27 Dec 2006) as Auxiliary Bishop of

Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile ( la, Archidioecesis Sancti Iacobi in Chile) is one of the five Latin Metropolitan sees of the Roman Catholic Church in Chile. Ecclesiastical province Its Suffragan sees are: * Roman Catholic D ...

(Chile) (2001.07.10 – 2006.12.27); previously Bishop of

Roman Catholic Diocese of Valdivia The Roman Catholic Diocese of Valdivia ( la, Valdivien(sis)) is a Latin rite suffragan diocese in the Ecclesiastical province of Concepción in Chile. Its cathedral episcopal see is Catedral Nuestra Señora del Rosario, dedicated to Our Lady of ...

(Chile) (1996.06.28 – 2001.07.10); later Metropolitan Archbishop of Concepción (Chile) (2006.12.27 – 2010.12.15), President of Episcopal Conference of Chile (2010.11 – 2016.11.11), Metropolitan Archbishop of above Santiago (de Chile) (2010.12.15 – ...), created Cardinal-Priest of SS. Redentore a Valmelaina (2014.02.22 014.10.11– ...) * Pedro Ossandón Buljevic (4 Nov 2008 - ...) first as Auxiliary Bishop of

Archdiocese of Concepción In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

(Chile) (2008.11.04 – 2012.07.10), then as Auxiliary Bishop of

(Chile) (2012.07.10 – ...).

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic

Francisco Solano Asta-Buruaga y Cienfuegos, Diccionario geográfico de la República de Chile, D. Appleton y Compania, Nueva York, 1899

Imperial (Ciudad), pg. 329-330
*

Crescente Errázuriz 300px, Monsignor Crescente Errázuriz Valdivieso. Monsignor Crescente Errázuriz Valdivieso (November 18, 1839 – July 5, 1931) was a Chilean Dominican friar, Roman Catholic archbishop of Santiago, professor, writer and historian. Crescente Errá ...

Seis años de la historia de Chile: 23 de diciembre de 1598- 9 de abril de 1605: memoria histórica, Impr. Nacional, Sanitiago de Chile, 1881.
Destroyed cities Former Roman Catholic dioceses in America Suppressed Roman Catholic dioceses 1600 disestablishments Geography of Araucanía Region Populated places in Cautín Province Populated places established in 1552 1552 establishments in the Spanish Empire {{Chile-hist-stub pt:La Imperial