Román Arrieta Villalobos, known as ''Manzanita'' (1924-2004), was a Catholic

Archbishop 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 archdi ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

. He was born in San Antonio de Belén, Costa Rica, on November 13, 1924. He finished his secondary studies in Heredia before entering the Conciliar Seminary of

San José San José or San Jose (Spanish for Saint Joseph) most often refers to: *San Jose, California, United States *San José, Costa Rica, the nation's capital San José or San Jose may also refer to: Places Argentina * San José, Buenos Aires ** San ...

, Costa Rica. Ordained in the

Metropolitan Cathedral of San José The Metropolitan Cathedral of San José es, Catedral Metropolitana is a cathedral in San José, Costa Rica, located on Calle Central and Avenues 2 and 4. The original cathedral was built in 1802 but was destroyed by an earthquake. References ...

on December 18, 1948 by Mons. Víctor Manuel Sanabria Martínez and sent by him to Washington, D.C., to undertake his postgraduate studies. He was consecrated as first Bishop of

Tilarán Tilarán is a small town and a district in Guanacaste Province in Costa Rica. It is the seat of the Tilarán Canton located in the hills overlooking the west shore of Lake Arenal. It is connected by road to El Silencio, and by the 142 road down th ...

on September 21, 1961 at the Alajuela Cathedral. On July 10, 1979 he was appointed Archbishop of San José, a post he held until his resignation on July 13, 2002. He took part in the Second Vatican Council where he was a member of the Commission on Canon Law. He established the Minor Seminary of Tacares. He created a system of Social Security for the church employees, restored the Metropolitan Cathedral, and promoted the establishment of the Universidad Católica de Costa Rica He died in the home where he was born on March 7, 2004.

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Arquidócesis de San José
1924 births 2004 deaths Participants in the Second Vatican Council People from Heredia Province 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Costa Rica Roman Catholic bishops of Tilarán-Liberia Roman Catholic archbishops of San José de Costa Rica {{CostaRica-RC-bishop-stub