The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of La Serena ( la, Serenen(sis)) is an

archdiocese 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 ...

located in the city of La Serena in Chile.

History

* 1 July 1840: Established as Diocese of La Serena from the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile * 29 May 1939: Promoted as Metropolitan Archdiocese of La Serena

Special churches

*Minor Basilicas: **Basílica - Santuario Nuestra Señora de Andacollo,

Andacollo Andacollo () is a city and commune in the Elqui Province, Coquimbo Region, Chile. History Andacollo is a copper and gold mining city located in the mountains of the Small North (El Norte Chico) in Chile. It was founded in 1891. Several legend ...

Current Leadership

On Saturday, December 14, 2013,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

accepted the resignation from the pastoral governance of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of La Serena, presented by Archbishop Gerardo Manuel Donoso Donoso, SS.CC., in accordance with Canon 401.1 of the

Latin rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church ''sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once ...

1983 Code of Canon Law The 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'' (abbreviated 1983 CIC from its Latin title ''Codex Iuris Canonici''), also called the Johanno-Pauline Code, is the "fundamental body of ecclesiastical laws for the Latin Church". It is the second and current comp ...

(Bishops must offer their resignations to the Pope for possible acceptance upon turning 75). Pope Francis appointed as the next Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of La Serena, Archbishop

René Osvaldo Rebolledo Salinas René Osvaldo Rebolledo Salinas (born 22 September 1958) is a Chilean Roman Catholic prelate who currently serves as the Archbishop of La Serena since his appointment by Pope Francis on 14 December 2013. He had previously served as Bishop of ...

, who until then had been Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Osorno The Roman Catholic Diocese of Osorno (in Latin: '' Dioecesis Osornensis '') is a suffragan diocese of the archdiocese of Puerto Montt, in Chile. The diocese was established on 15 November 1955 by Pope Pius XII by means of the papal bull ''Christ ...

, in

Osorno, Chile Osorno (Mapuche: Chauracavi) is a city and commune in southern Chile and capital of Osorno Province in the Los Lagos Region. It had a population of 145,475, as of the 2002 census. It is located south of the national capital of Santiago, north o ...

. On October 11, 2018, Pope Francis laicized former Archbishop

Francisco José Cox Huneeus Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name '' Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed " Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father o ...

amid accusations of sexual abuse against children

Bishops

Ordinaries, in reverse chronological order

Archbishops In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

of La Serena (Roman rite), below ** Archbishop

(2013.12.14 – present) ** Archbishop Manuel Gerardo Donoso Donoso, SS.CC. (1997.04.16 – 2013.12.14) ** Archbishop

(1990.09.29 – 1997.04.16) ** Archbishop

Bernardino Piñera Carvallo Bernardino is a name of Italian, Hispanic, or Portuguese origin, which can refer to: Given name * Bernardino Baldi (1533–1617), Italian mathematician and writer *Bernardino Bertolotti (born 1547), Italian composer and instrumentalist *Bernard ...

(1983.07.01 – 1990.09.29) ** Archbishop Juan Francisco Fresno Larraín (1967.06.28 – 1983.05.03), appointed Archbishop of Santiago de Chile (

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

in 1985) ** Archbishop Alfredo Cifuentes Gómez (1943.06.05 – 1967.03.10) ** Archbishop Juan Subercaseaux Errázuriz (1940.01.08 – 1942.08.09) ** Archbishop

José María Caro Rodríguez José María Caro Rodríguez (June 23, 1866 – December 4, 1958) was a Chilean Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Santiago from 1939 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1946 by Pope Pius ...

(''see below'' 1939.05.20 – 1939.08.28), appointed Archbishop of Santiago de Chile (Cardinal in 1946) * Bishops of La Serena (Roman rite), below ** Bishop José María Caro Rodríguez (1925.12.14 – 1939.05.20 ''see above''); future Cardinal ** Bishop Carlos Silva Cotapos (1918.02.20 – 1925.12.14), appointed Archbishop of Santiago de Chile ** Bishop Ramón Angel Jara Ruz (1909.08.31 – 1917.03.09) ** Bishop Florencio Eduardo Fontecilla Sánchez (1890.06.26 – 1909.03.03)

Coadjutor archbishops

* Arturo Mery Beckdorf (1963-1967), did not succeed to see *

, P. Schönstatt (1985-1990)

Auxiliary bishops

* Guillermo Juan Carter Gallo (1893-1895), appointed Vicar Apostolic of Tarapacá * Eduardo Solar Vicuña (1914-1920) * Manuel Gerardo Donoso Donoso, SS.CC. (1996-1997), appointed Archbishop here * Luis Gleisner Wobbe (2001-2014)

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

Pedro Aguilera Narbona Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning ...

, appointed Bishop of Iquique in 1941 *

José del Carmen Valle Gallardo José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacu ...

, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Iquique in 1963

Suffragan dioceses

Diocese of Copiapó 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 associat ...

Territorial Prelature of Illapel The Territorial Prelature of Illapel ( la, Praelatura Territorialis Ilapensis) is a territorial prelature located in the city of Illapel in the Ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Chr ...

Sources

GCatholic.org

Diocese website
Roman Catholic dioceses in Chile Religious organizations established in 1840 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 19th century Roman Catholic ecclesiastical provinces in Chile 1840 establishments in Chile La Serena, Chile {{Chile-RC-diocese-stub