![CatedraldeMérida](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/CatedraldeM%C3%A9rida.JPG)
The Archdiocese of Mérida–Badajoz is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, created in 1255. Until 1994, it was known as the Diocese of Badajoz.
["Archdiocese of Mérida–Badajoz"]
'' Catholic-Hierarchy.org''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016["Metropolitan Archdiocese of Mérida–Badajoz"]
''GCatholic.org''. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016
History
The Diocese or Archdiocese of Mérida (''dioecesis Emeritensis'') was a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and
Arian
Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God t ...
see centred on the Spanish city of
Mérida during the periods of
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
and
Visigothic
The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...
rule. Mérida was also the
provincial
Provincial may refer to:
Government & Administration
* Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country
* Provincial city (disambiguation)
* Provincial minister (disambiguation)
* Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...
capital of
Lusitania
Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province located where modern Portugal (south of the Douro river) and
a portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and the province of Salamanca) lie. It was named after the Lusitani or Lusita ...
.
The see prospered in the late 5th century under
Zeno
Zeno ( grc, Ζήνων) may refer to:
People
* Zeno (name), including a list of people and characters with the name
Philosophers
* Zeno of Elea (), philosopher, follower of Parmenides, known for his paradoxes
* Zeno of Citium (333 – 264 BC), ...
, a Greek, who was offered greater authority in order to defend the province from
Suevi
The Suebi (or Suebians, also spelled Suevi, Suavi) were a large group of Germanic peoples originally from the Elbe river region in what is now Germany and the Czech Republic. In the early Roman era they included many peoples with their own names ...
c raids. At about that time the diocese fell under the control of the Visigoths and it remained a Visigothic see until the
Moorish conquest
The Umayyad conquest of Hispania, also known as the Umayyad conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom, was the initial expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate over Hispania (in the Iberian Peninsula) from 711 to 718. The conquest resulted in the decline of t ...
of 711. Throughout that period, however, it only ever had two Gothic bishops:
Masona and his successor
Renovatus
Eastland Mall was a shopping mall in Charlotte, North Carolina. The center opened on July 30, 1975, as the then-largest mall in North Carolina with three anchor department stores, Belk, J.C. Penney, and Ivey's. A Sears, Roebuck and Company store ...
in the late sixth and early seventh centuries. In the mid-sixth century the see became the richest in Spain through the private wealth of bishops
Paul and
Fidelis
Fidelis may refer to:
;People:
* ''See Fidelis (name)''
;Places:
* Fidelis, Florida, an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Santa Rosa County, Florida, United States.
* São Fidélis, a municipality in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
* ...
, Greek uncle and nephew. Under these four, the city was ruled ''de facto'' by the bishops independent of the central government, a situation which led to conflict between the Arian king
Leovigild and his bishop,
Sunna.
The bishopric of
Badajoz
Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The population ...
was erected in 1225, shortly after it was reconquered from the Moors by King Alfonso IX of León. Its first bishop was Don
Pedro Perez
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 by
Alfonso X
Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, es, el Sabio; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germ ...
, the Wise. The diocese was suffragan to the
archdiocese of Seville
The Archdiocese of Seville is part of the Catholic Church in Seville, Spain. The Diocese of Seville was founded in the 3rd century. It was raised to the level of an archdiocese in the 4th century. The current archbishop is José Ángel Saiz Mene ...
, and was bounded on the north by the
diocese of Coria,
diocese of Plasencia, and
diocese of Toledo, on the east by Toledo, the
diocese of Ciudad Real, and the
diocese of Córdoba, on the south by the archdiocese of Seville, and on the west by Portugal.
On July 28, 1994,
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
established the Archdiocese of Mérida–Badajoz, making the
Church of Saint John Baptist his metropolitan cathedral.
Suffragan dioceses
*
Coria–Cáceres
*
Plasencia
Ordinaries
Diocese of Badajoz
''Erected: 1255''
Bishops before 1500
1500s
1600s
1700s
1800s
1900s
Archdiocese of Mérida–Badajoz
''Elevated: 28 July 1994''
*
Antonio Montero Moreno
Antonio Montero Moreno (28 August 1928 – 16 June 2022) was a Spanish Roman Catholic prelate.
Montero Moreno was born in Churriana de la Vega and was ordained to the priesthood in 1951. He served as auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Arc ...
(3 May 1980 – 9 Jul 2004 Retired)
*
Santiago García Aracil (9 Jul 2004 – 21 May 2015 Retired)
*
Celso Morga Iruzubieta
Celso Morga Iruzubieta (born 28 January 1948 in Huércanos, La Rioja, Spain) is the current Archbishop of Mérida-Badajoz. He had previously served as Secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy, since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI on ...
(21 May 2015 Succeeded – )
Auxiliary bishops
*
Fernando de Vera y Zuñiga
Fernando de Vera y Zuñiga (1658 – November 9, 1638) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Archbishop of Cuzco (1629–1638), Archbishop of Santo Domingo (1628–1629), and Auxiliary Bishop of Badajoz (1614–1628). ''(in Latin)'' (1614–1628).
Notes
References
*
*
* Originally published in ''El Concilio III de Toledo: XIV Centenario, 589–1989''. Toledo: Arzobispado de Toledo, 1991.
*
*Thompson, E. A. ''Romans and Barbarians: The Decline of the Western Empire''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1982. .
*.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merida-Badajoz
Roman Catholic dioceses in Spain
Dioceses established in the 13th century