Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Yucatán

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Yucatán ( la, Archidioecesis Yucatanensis) is the diocese of the Catholic Church based in Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico; the Campeche and the Tabasco are its suffragans."Archdiocese of Yucatán"
''Catholic-Hierarchy.org''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016"Metropolitan Archdiocese of Yucatán"
''GCatholic.org''. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016 Its area is that of the state of the same name, covering an area of 17,204 square miles.

History

Yucatán was the first region of the Mexican territory to encounter Christianity in the 16th century; it was there that the first Roman Catholic Mass was celebrated. It is said that in 1517 Francisco Hernández de Córdoba, the discoverer and explorer of the region, founded the first parish. Pope Leo X, believing the newly discovered land to be an island, by the papal bull ''Sacri apostolatus ministerio'', dated 27 January 1518, created the Diocese of Yucatán, under the name ''Carolense'' and placed it under the protection of Our Lady of the Remedies ( Santa Maria de los Remedios).

When it became known that Yucatán was part of the continent which Hernán Cortés was conquering, Pope Clement VII made certain modifications, and Dominican friar Julián Garcés, was transferred from his office of Bishop of Yucatán to that of Bishop of Tlaxcala (now the Archdiocese of Puebla de los Angeles) when he arrived in Mexico, as the Spanish had abandoned the conquest of Yucatán for this new land. The first resident bishop was Francisco Toral, a Franciscan friar, who took possession on 15 August 1562, one year after his appointment; he assisted at the first and second Mexican Provincial Councils.

Marcos de Torres y Rueda, the 12th bishop (1647), owing to dissensions between Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, Bishop of Puebla, and Viceroy García Sarmiento de Sotomayor, 2nd conde de Salvatierra, was named Viceroy of New Spain and entered into office 13 May 1648; he died at the capital, 22 April 1649.

Juan Gómez de Parada, the 20th bishop, governed the dioceses of Yucatán, Guatemala, and Guadalajara with great success. His successor, Ignacio Castorena y Ursúa, was the founder of the first newspaper published in Mexico. José María Guerra, 35th bishop (d. 1863), lived during the famous Caste War, which ruined almost the whole of Yucatán. It was at the instance of Leandro Rodríguez de la Gala, his successor, that the new See of Tabasco was formed from parishes taken from the Diocese of Yucatán. The Province and Vicariate of Petén, situated in Guatemala, which ecclesiastically had belonged to Yucatán, became a part of the See of Guatemala. Believing that the colony of Belize was his dependency, the bishop sent missionaries there in 1864; this land, however, had been under the administration of priests sent form the Vicariate Apostolic of Jamaica since 1837. The Diocese of Yucatán was suffragan of Mexico until 1891, when it became suffragan of the newly created Archdiocese of Oaxaca. In 1895 the new See of Campeche was created from parishes taken from Yucatán, to which was added all the territory of Quintana Roo.

Bishops

;''Ordinaries of Diocese of Carolense''
*Julián Garcés, O.P. (24 Jan 1519 – 13 Oct 1525)Archdiocese of Yucatan: "Historia de Obispos"
retrieved November 18, 2015

;''Ordinaries of Diocese of Yucatán''
* Francisco del Toral, O.F.M. (19 Nov 1561 – 20 Apr 1571 Died)"Bishop Francisco del Toral, O.F.M."
''Catholic-Hierarchy.org''. David M. Cheney. retrieved November 18, 2015
*Diego de Landa, O.F.M. (17 Oct 1572 – 29 Apr 1579 Died)
*Gregorio de Montalvo Olivera, O.P. (15 Dec 1580 – 16 Nov 1587 Appointed, Bishop of Cuzco