The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Antofagasta ( la, Antofagasten(sis)) is a Latin rite Metropolitan

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 ...

in northern Chile's

Antofagasta Province Antofagasta Province ( es, Provincia de Antofagasta) is one of three provinces in the northern Chilean region of Antofagasta (II). The capital is the port city of Antofagasta. Located within the Atacama Desert, it borders the El Loa and Tocopil ...

Special churches

* Its cathedral archiepiscopal see is Catedral San José, dedicated to

Saint Joseph Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers of ...

, in the city of Antofagasta. * It also has a Minor Basilica : Basílica del Corazón de María

History

* 1881: Established as

Mission “sui iuris” A mission '' sui iuris'', or in Latin ''missio sui iuris'' (plural ''missions sui iuris''); also spelled mission(s) sui juris), also known as an independent mission, is a rare type of Roman Catholic missionary pseudo-diocesan jurisdiction, ranki ...

of Antofagasta, on territory split off from the

Diocese of La Serena La Serena () is a city and commune in northern Chile, capital of the Coquimbo Region. Founded in 1544, it is the country's second oldest city after the national capital, Santiago. As of 2012, it had a communal population of roughly 200,000, an ...

(now Metropolitan) * 1887: Promoted as Apostolic Vicariate of Antofagasta * 3 February 1928: Promoted as Diocese of Antofagasta * 1965.07.21: Lost territory to establish Territorial Prelature of Calama (now suffragan Diocese of San Juan de Calama) * 28 June 1967: Promoted as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Antofagasta/ Antofagasten(sis) (Latin adjective) * Enjoyed a Papal visit from Pope John Paul II in April 1987.

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 386,017 Catholics (70.2% of 550,256 total) on 84,504 km² in 20 parishes and 67 missions with 37 priests (18 diocesan, 19 religious), 28 deacons, 108 lay religious (24 brothers, 84 sisters) and 2 seminarians.

Ecclesiastical province

The Metropolitan's Suffragan sees are : * Roman Catholic Diocese of Iquique * Roman Catholic Diocese of San Juan Bautista de Calama, its daughter see * Roman Catholic Diocese of San Marcos de Arica

Bishops

(all

Roman rite The Roman Rite ( la, Ritus Romanus) is the primary liturgical rite of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. It developed in the Latin language in the city of Rome and, while dist ...

Chileans)

Ordinaries

;'' Ecclesiastical Superior of Antofagasta'' * Father Florencio Eduardo Fontecilla Sánchez (1883 – 1886.12.23), next Bishop of mother see La Serena (Chile) (1890.06.26 – death 1909.03.03) ;''Apostolic Vicars of Antofagasta'' * Bishop-elect Luís Silva Lezaeta first term (1887.05.15 – 1896) * Fr. Felipe Salas Errázuriz (1896.03.04 – 1905) * Luís Silva Lezaeta again (1904.11.04 – 1928.02.03 ''see below''), Titular Bishop of

Olena Olena, Olenna ( uk, Олена) is a Ukrainian variant of the feminine name Helen. It is of Greek origin and means "sun ray" or "shining light". Variants of the name Olena include: Alena, Elena, Jelena, Lena, Lenya, Lenochka, Olinia, Olinija, Olen ...

(1912.01.05 – 1928.02.03) ;''Suffragan Bishops of Antofagasta'' *

Luís Silva Lezaeta Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

(''see above'' 1928.02.03 – death 1929.05.21) *

Alfredo Cifuentes Gómez Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and a common Italian, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. People with the given name include: *Alfredo (born 1946), Brazilian footballer born as Alfredo Mostarda Filho ...

(1933.12.23 – 1943.06.05), next Metropolitan Archbishop of La Serena (Chile) (1943.06.05 – 1967.03.10),

Apostolic Administrator ad nutum Sanctae Sedis Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles *Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...

Apostolic Administration of Copiapó Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles * Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Chur ...

(Chile) (1947.03.19 – 1948.06.17), emeritate as Titular Archbishop of Thapsus (1967.03.10 – retired 1970.12.02), died 1989 :BIOs TO ELABORATE *

Hernán Frías Hurtado Hernán is a Spanish masculine given name, originating from Germanic Hernan in the Visigoth culture in Spain. It is the Latinized version of the compound name ''Fard-nanth'', which seems to mean "gentle traveler" or "spiritual traveler". The House ...

(1945.01.13 – 1957.05.24) * Francisco de Borja Valenzuela Ríos (1957.08.20 – 1967.06.28 ''see below'') ;''Metropolitan Archbishops of Antofagasta'' *

Francisco de Borja Valenzuela Ríos Francisco de Borja Valenzuela Ríos (10 October 1917 – 20 February 1998) was a Chilean bishop. After his episcopal consecration, he headed the dioceses of Copiapó -at the time, a territorial prelature- (1956–57), Antofagasta (1957–74), Cal ...

(''see above'' 1967.06.28 – 1974.03.25), next Archbishop (personal title) of San Felipe (1974.03.25 - 1993.04.16) *

Carlos Oviedo Cavada Carlos Oviedo Cavada, O. de M. (19 January 1927 – 7 December 1998) was a Chilean Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Santiago de Chile from 1990 to 1998, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1994. Biography Cavad ...

O. de M. The Royal, Celestial and Military Order of Our Lady of Mercy and the Redemption of the Captives ( la, Ordo Beatae Mariae de Mercede Redemptionis Captivorum, abbreviated O. de M.), also known as the Mercedarians, is a Catholic mendicant order es ...

(1974.03.25 – 1990.03.30), next Metropolitan Archbishop of Santiago de Chile (1990.03.30 - 1998.02.16), elevated to

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 1994; died 7 December 1998 *

Patricio Infante Alfonso Patricio in Spanish, or Patrício in Portuguese, is a male given name equivalent to Patrick Patrick may refer to: * Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name P ...

(1990.12.12 – 2004.11.26) * Pablo Lizama Riquelme (2004.11.26 – 8 June 2017) * Ignacio Francisco Ducasse Medina (8 June 2017 – ...)

Coadjutor bishop

Pablo Lizama Riquelme Pablo is a Spanish form of the name Paul. People * Pablo Alborán, Spanish singer *Pablo Aimar, Argentine footballer *Pablo Armero, Colombian footballer * Pablo Bartholomew, Indian photojournalist *Pablo Brandán, Argentine footballer * Pablo Bren ...

(2004)

Auxiliary bishops

Arturo Mery Beckdorf Arturo is a Spanish and Italian variant of the name Arthur. People *Arturo Álvarez (footballer, born 1985), American-born Salvadoran footballer *Arturo Álvarez (footballer, born 1959), Mexican footballer *Arthuro Henrique Bernhardt (b. 1982), Br ...

(1941-1944, Apostolic Administrator 1943-1944), appointed Bishop of Valdivia * Juan Luis Ysern de Arce (1972-1974), appointed Bishop of San Carlos de Ancud * Juan Bautista Herrada Armijo, O. de M. (1991-1997)

Sources and external links

GCatholic.org

Diocese website
*

* Roman Catholic dioceses in Chile Religious organizations established in 1881 Antofagasta Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 19th century Roman Catholic ecclesiastical provinces in Chile 1881 establishments in Chile {{Chile-RC-diocese-stub