The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of León ( la, Archidioecesis Leonensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or Metropolitan

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, 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 Roman province, pro ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church 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 ...

based in the Mexican city of

León, Guanajuato () , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Political divisions of Mexico, State , subdivision_name1 = , establishe ...

. It currently covers an area of 41,940 km², and has a population of 6,500,000, including the states of Guanajuato and

Querétaro Querétaro (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro, links=no; Otomi language, Otomi: ''Hyodi Ndämxei''), is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. I ...

. It was created as the Diocese of León on January 26, 1863 by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

, and elevated to the rank of a

metropolitan archdiocese A metropolis religious jurisdiction, or a metropolitan archdiocese, is an episcopal see whose bishop is the metropolitan bishop or archbishop of an ecclesiastical province. Metropolises, historically, have been important cities in their provinces. ...

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

on November 25, 2006, with the

suffragan sees 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 jurisdiction ...

Celaya Celaya (; ) is a city and its surrounding municipalities of Mexico, municipality in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, located in the southeast quadrant of the state. It is the third most populous city in the state, with a 2005 census population of 3 ...

Irapuato Irapuato is a Mexican city (and municipality) located at the foot of the Arandas Hill (in Spanish: ''Cerro de Arandas''), in the central region of the state of Guanajuato. It lies between the Silao River and the Guanajuato River, a tributary of t ...

, and

. The archdiocese's motherchurch and thus seat of its archbishop is the Catedral Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Luz. Alfonso Cortés Contreras was appointed Archbishop of León by

on December 22, 2012, having previously served as Bishop of the Diocese of Cuernavaca. He replaced Archbishop Emeritus José Martín Rábago, whose resignation was accepted under Canon 401.1 and who had been archbishop since his appointment by

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 ...

in 1995. Archbishop Cortés Contreras was born in La Luz in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Zamora on July 16, 1947. He studied philosophy and theology in the Seminary of

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

, and subsequently earned a licentiate in theology at the

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

in Rome. He was ordained a priest on October 26, 1972. After parish ministry, he served as a professor at the Diocesan Seminary of Monterrey and of

theological anthropology In the context of Christian theology, Christian anthropology is the study of the human (anthropos) as it relates to God. It differs from the social science of anthropology, which primarily deals with the comparative study of the physical and soc ...

at the

Pontifical University of Mexico A pontifical ( la, pontificale) is a Christian liturgical book containing the liturgies that only a bishop may perform. Among the liturgies are those of the ordinal for the ordination and consecration of deacons, priests, and bishops to Holy O ...

. He was then called to Rome to assume the offices of Bursar and, from 1999 to 2005, Rector of the Pontifical Mexican College. During his time in Rome he was elected President of the Association of the Rectors of Ecclesiastical Colleges in Rome. On June 24, 2005, he was appointed

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Acque Regie and Auxiliary Bishop of Monterrey by Pope Benedict; he was ordained a bishop on August 24. On July 10, 2009, he was appointed Bishop of Cuernavaca, taking canonical possession of the diocese on August 18.

Boundaries

The Archdiocese of León is the metropolitan see of the

suffragan diocese A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria ...

s of Irapuato, Celaya, Querétaro. The Archdiocese of León covers the municipalities of

León, Guanajuato () , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Political divisions of Mexico, State , subdivision_name1 = , establishe ...

, San Felipe, Ocampo,

San Francisco del Rincón San Francisco del Rincón is a city and municipality in the western part of the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. The city serves as the municipal seat for the municipality of San Francisco del Rincón. The city lies at the extreme northwest corner of t ...

, Purísima del Rincón, Romita,

Silao Silao (), officially Silao de la Victoria, is a city in the west-central part of the state of Guanajuato in Mexico. It is the seat of the municipality with the same name. As of the 2005 census, the city had a population of 147,123, making it the ...

and Cd. Manuel Doblado. The Diocese of Irapuato includes the municipalities of Abasolo, Cuerámaro, Huanímaro,

, Jaral del Progreso, Pénjamo, Pueblo Nuevo,

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...

, and Valle de Santiago. The Diocese of Celaya covers 11 municipalities: San Diego de la Unión,

Dolores Hidalgo Dolores Hidalgo (; in full, Dolores Hidalgo Cuna de la Independencia Nacional, en, Dolores Hidalgo Birthplace of exicanNational Independence) is the name of a city and the surrounding municipality in the north-central part of the Mexican state o ...

, San Luis de la Paz,

San Miguel de Allende San Miguel de Allende () is the principal city in the municipality of San Miguel de Allende, located in the far eastern part of Guanajuato, Mexico. A part of the Bajío region, the city lies from Mexico City, 86 km (53 mi) from Queré ...

, Santa Cruz de Juventino Rosas, Comonfort, Villagrán,

, Apaseo el Grande, Cortazar, and Apaseo el Alto. The Diocese of Querétaro covers 18 municipalities of the State of

and 7 municipalities of Guanajuato: Atarjea, Docto Mora, San José Iturbide, Santa Catarina, Tierra Blanca, Victoria, and Xichú.

Bishops

List of Ordinaries of León

* José de Sollano y Dávaols (1863–1881) * Tomás Barón y Morales (1882–1898) * Santiago Garza Zambrano (1898–1900), appointed Archbishop of Linares o Nueva León, Nuevo León *

Leopoldo Ruiz y Flóres Leopoldo Ruiz y Flóres (13 November 1865 – 12 December 1941) was a Mexican prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Morelia from 1911 until his death in 1941. He was previously Bishop of Léon from 1900 to 1907 and Archbishop ...

(1900–1907), appointed Archbishop of Linares o Nueva León, Nuevo León * José Mora y del Rio (1907–1908), appointed Archbishop of México, Federal District * Emeterio Valverde y Télles (1909–1948) * Manuel Martín del Campo Padilla (1948–1965), appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Morelia, Michoacán * Anselmo Zarza Bernal (1966–1992) *

Rafael Garcia González Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California * Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israeli manufacturer of weapons and military technology * Hurricane Rafael, a 2012 hurricane Fiction * ''R ...

(1992–1994) * José Martín Rábago (1995–2012) * Alfonso Cortés Contreras (2012–present)

Coadjutor bishop

* Manuel Martín del Campo Padilla (1946–1948)

Auxiliary bishop

* Juan Frausto Pallares (2005–2016)

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

* Andrés Segura y Domínguez, appointed Bishop of Tepic, Nayarit in 1906 *

Miguel Darío Miranda y Gómez Miguel Darío Miranda y Gómez (December 19, 1895 – March 15, 1986) was a Mexican Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Mexico City from 1956 to 1977, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1969. Biography Miguel ...

, appointed Bishop of Tulancingo, Hidalgo in 1937; future Cardinal *

José Ulises Macías Salcedo José Ulises Macías Salcedo, Archbishop emeritus of the Archdiocese of Hermosillo, was born in León, Guanajuato, Mexico, on October 29, 1940. He studied Humanities in the Seminary of his native city, and studied philosophy and theology at the P ...

, appointed Bishop of Mexicali, Baja California Norte in 1984 * Gonzalo Galván Castillo, appointed Bishop of Autlán, Jalisco in 2004 * José Guadalupe Torres Campos (priest here, 1984–2004), appointed auxiliary bishop of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua in 2005 * Armando António Ortíz Aguirre, appointed Bishop of Ciudad Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán in 2013 * Francisco González Ramos (priest here, 1982–2004), appointed Bishop of Izcalli, México in 2014

Notes

External links

Archdiocese of León website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leon Roman Catholic dioceses in Mexico Religious organizations established in 1863 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 19th century Roman Catholic ecclesiastical provinces in Mexico A 1863 establishments in Mexico