The Diocese of Arecibo 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 Joh ...

ecclesiastical territory or

diocese 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 associa ...

of the

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 ...

and consists of half of the northern portion of the island of

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

, a commonwealth of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The

mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral or a metropo ...

is the Catedral de San Felipe Apostol located in City of Arecibo. Its jurisdiction includes the municipalities of Isabela, Quebradillas,

Camuy Camuy () is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico, bordering the Atlantic Ocean, north of Lares and San Sebastián; east of Quebradillas; and west of Hatillo. Camuy is spread over 12 barrios and Camuy Pueblo (the downtown area and the admini ...

, Hatillo,

Arecibo Arecibo (; ) is a city and municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado and Ciales; east of Hatillo; and west of Barceloneta and Florida. It is about west of San Juan, th ...

, Barceloneta,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, Manatí,

Vega Baja Vega Baja (, ) is a town and municipality located on the coast of north central Puerto Rico. It is north of Morovis, east of Manatí, and west of Vega Alta. Vega Baja is spread over 13 barrios. The population of the municipality was 54,414 at ...

, Vega Alta,

Lares Lares ( , ; archaic , singular ''Lar'') were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an amalgam of these. Lare ...

, Utuado,

Ciales Ciales (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico, located on the Central Mountain Range, northwest of Orocovis; south of Florida and Manatí; east of Utuado and Jayuya; and west of Morovis. Ciales is spread over eight barrios and Ciales P ...

, Morovis, Corozal, and Orocovis.

History

The See of Arecibo was canonically erected on 30 April 1960 and is a suffragan diocese in the

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 seve ...

of the metropolitan Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico.

Bishops

The list of ordinaries (bishops of the diocese) and their terms of service: # Alfredo Méndez-Gonzalez, C.S.C. (1960–1974) # Miguel Rodriguez Rodriguez, C.Ss.R. (1974–1990) #

Iñaki Mallona Txertudi Iñaki Mallona Txertudi C.P. (July 1, 1932 – May 3, 2021) was a Spanish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Bishop of the Diocese of Arecibo in Puerto Rico from 1992 to 2010 Biography Early life and ordination Txert ...

, C.P. (1991–2010) # Daniel Fernández Torres, (2010–2022) # Alberto Arturo Figueroa Morales, (2022–)

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

* Enrique Manuel Hernández Rivera, appointed auxiliary bishop of San Juan in 1979 * Alberto Arturo Figueroa Morales (priest here, 1990–1991), appointed auxiliary bishop of San Juan in 2019

San Juan Archdiocese bankruptcy

On 7 September 2018, Judge Edward Godoy ruled that the bankruptcy filed by the Archdiocese of San Juan would also apply to every Catholic diocese in Puerto Rico, including Arecibo, and that all would now have their assets protected under

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...

References

External links

Diócesis de Arecibo
(Official Site in Spanish)

GCatholic.org website 1960 establishments in Puerto Rico

Christian organizations established in 1960