The Archdiocese of Santiago de Guatemala is a

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Jo ...

ecclesiastical territory or

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 associat ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...

."Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de Guatemala"
''GCatholic.org.'' Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016
''

Catholic-Hierarchy.org ''Catholic-Hierarchy.org'' is an online database of bishops and dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Catholic Churches. The website is not officially sanctioned by the Church. It is run as a private project by David M. Cheney in ...

.'' David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016 It is a primatial

metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a t ...

with six

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 Alexandri ...

s in its

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of sev ...

Special churches

Its

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

is the '' Catedral Primada Metropolitana de Santiago'', is the

episcopal see An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...

in the national capital Ciudad de Guatemala. It also has * the former Cathedral, a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

: Catedral de San José, Antigua Guatemala, Sacatepéquez * a

Minor Basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

, National Shrine: Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala * other National Shrine: Iglesia de San Francisco el Grande, Antigua Guatemala, Sacatepéquez * further Shrines: Santuario Arquidiocesano del Señor San José, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala and Santuario Expiatorio al Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala

History

* It was erected 18 December 1534, as the Diocese of Guatemala, on territory split off from the then

Diocese of Santo Domingo The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santo Domingo ( la, Archidioecesis Metropolitae Sancti Dominici; es, Arquidiócesis Metropolitana de Santo Domingo) is a Latin Metropolitan Archdiocese in the Dominican Republic. The see was erected ...

. * On 1561.06.21 it lost territory to establish the Diocese of Vera Paz * It was elevated to Metropolitan Archdiocese of Guatemala on 16 December 1743. * It lost territory repeatedly : on 1842.09.28 to establish the then Diocese of San Salvador, on 1921.07.27 to establish the then

Roman Catholic Diocese of Quetzaltenango, Los Altos 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 lette ...

(now also a metropolitan archdiocese) and the then

Apostolic Vicariate of Verapaz and Petén The Roman Catholic Diocese of Verapaz (also Vera Paz, Cobán) is a Latin suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the Archdiocese of Guatemala. Its cathedral episcopal see is the Catedral de Santo Domingo de Guzman, dedicated to Sain ...

, on 1951.03.10 to establish the dioceses of

Jalapa Xalapa or Jalapa (, ), officially Xalapa-Enríquez (), is the capital city of the Mexican state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In the 2005 census the city reported a population of 387,879 and the municipality of which ...

(its suffragan),

Sololá __NOTOC__ Sololá is a city in Guatemala. It is the capital of the department of Sololá and the administrative seat of Sololá municipality. It is located close to Lake Atitlan. The name is a Hispanicized form of its pre-Columbian name, one sp ...

and the Zacapa, on 1969.05.09 to establish

Territorial Prelature of Escuintla The Diocese of Escuintla is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Guatemala. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Guatemala. The Diocese of Escuintl ...

and on 1996.04.27 to establish its suffragan Diocese of Santa Rosa de Lima. * It enjoyed papal visits from

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 March 1983, February 1996 and July 2002. * It was renamed on 23 April 2013 as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de Guatemala

Province

Its

comprises the Metropolitan's own Archbishopric and the following

suffragan 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 ...

bishoprics : * Roman Catholic Diocese of Escuintla *

Roman Catholic Diocese of Jalapa The Diocese of Jalapa is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in southeastern Guatemala. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de Guatemala. I ...

Roman Catholic Diocese of San Francisco de Asís de Jutiapa The Diocese of San Francisco de Asís de Jutiapa is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Guatemala. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the Archdiocese of Santiago de Guatemala. ...

Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa de Lima The Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa de Lima (erected 27 April 1996) is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Guatemala. Ordinaries * Julio Amílcar Bethancourt Fioravanti (1996–2006) * Bernabé de Jesús Sagastume Lemus, O.F.M. Cap. ...

* Roman Catholic Diocese of Verapaz, Cobán * Roman Catholic Diocese of Zacapa y Santo Cristo de Esquipulas.

Episcopal ordinaries

;Bishops of Guatemala ;Archbishops of Guatemala ;Archbishops of Santiago de Guatemala * Óscar Julio Vian Morales,

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(''see above'' April 25, 2013 – February 24, 2018) * Gonzalo de Villa y Vásquez, S.J. (July 9, 2020 – present)

Coadjutor bishops

* Fernando Ortiz de Hinojosa (1598); did not take effect * Francisco de Paul García Peláez (1843–1845) * Mario Casariego y Acevedo, C.R.S. (1963–1964); future Cardinal

Auxiliary bishops

* Miguel Cilieza y Velasco (1765–1767), appointed Bishop of Chiapas (Ciudad Real de Chiapas) * Antonio Larrazábal (1839–1846), never consecrated * Juan Félix de Jesús Zepeda, O.F.M. Obs. (1859–1861), appointed Bishop of Comayagua, Honduras * Juan José de Aycinena y Piñol (1859–1865) * osé María Barrutia y Croquer (1859–1864) * Emmanuele Francesco Barrutia y Croquer (1865–1879) * Miguel Angel García y Aráuz (1944–1951), appointed Bishop of Jalapa * Rafael González Estrada (1955–1984) * Mario Casariego y Acevedo, C.R.S. (1958–1963), appointed Coadjutor here; future Cardinal * José Ramiro Pellecer Samayoa (1967–2010) * James Richard Ham, M.M. (1967–1979) * Luis Mario Martínez de Lejarza Valle, S.J. (1968–1980) * Eduardo Ernesto Fuentes Duarte (1980–1982), appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Sololá * Julio Amílcar Bethancourt Fioravanti (1982–1984), appointed Bishop of San Marcos *

Juan José Gerardi Conedera Juan José Gerardi Conedera (27 December 1922 – 26 April 1998) was a Guatemalan Roman Catholic bishop and human rights defender who was long active in working with the indigenous Mayan peoples of the country. In the 1970s he gained governme ...

(1984–1998) * Mario Enrique Ríos Mont, C.M. (1987–2010) * Gonzalo de Villa y Vásquez, S.J. (2004–2007), appointed Bishop of Sololá-Chimaltenango * Gustavo Rodolfo Mendoza Hernández (2004–2016) * Raúl Antonio Martinez Paredes (2007–) *

José Cayetano Parra Novo 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 vernacul ...

, O.P. (2016–)

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

Jorge de Viteri y Ungo José Jorge de Viteri y Ungo (24 April 1802 – 25 July 1853) was a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic bishop who served as the first Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Salvador, Bishop of San Salvador from 1843 until 1849, when he was appointed ...

, appointed Bishop of San Salvador in 1843 * José Cándido Piñol y Batres, appointed Bishop of Granada, Nicaragua in 1913 * Jorge García Caballeros, appointed Bishop of Quetzaltenango, Los Altos in 1928 * Pablo Vizcaíno Prado, appointed Bishop of Suchitepéquez-Retalhuleu in 1996 * Victor Hugo Palma Paúl, appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Escuintla in 2001 * Álvaro Leonel Ramazzini Imeri, appointed Bishop of San Marcos in 2008; elevated as Cardinal in 2019 * Carlos Enrique Trinidad Gómez, appointed Bishop of San Marcos in 2014

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guatemala, Archdiocese of Santiago de Santiago de Guatemala 1534 establishments in the Spanish Empire Religious organizations established in the 1530s Roman Catholic dioceses established in the 16th century A