La Imperial or Ciudad Imperial was a city founded by

Pedro de Valdivia Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva (; April 17, 1497 – December 25, 1553) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' and the first royal governor of Chile. After having served with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in ...

on 16 April 1552 and named in honor of the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

Charles V Charles V may refer to: Kings and Emperors * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise Others * Charles V, Duke ...

, then (also) king of Spain. It was abandoned on 5 April 1600 and destroyed as a result of the Mapuche Uprising of 1598 during the

War of Arauco The Arauco War was a long-running conflict between colonial Spaniards and the Mapuche people, mostly fought in the Araucanía region of Chile. The conflict began at first as a reaction to the Spanish conquerors attempting to establish cities a ...

. The ruins ('old city') were called Antigua Imperial. A city was refounded there in 1882 under the name

Carahue Carahue () is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune in southern Chile. It is located 56 km west of Temuco, on the northern bank of the Imperial River (Chile), Imperial River. The city was founded as La Imperial, Chil ...

Ecclesiastical history

* Established on 1563.05.22 as Diocese of La Imperial (Spanish) / Civitatis Imperialis (Latin, actually corresponding to 'Ciudad Imperial') on territory split off (with border at the river Maule) from the only two year older Diocese of Santiago de Chile (now Metropolitan, in the Chilean national capital) as

Suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

of the (

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

vian)

Archdiocese of Lima The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lima () is part of the Catholic Church in Peru which enjoys full communion with the Holy See. The Archdiocese was founded as the ''Diocese of Lima'' on 14 May 1541. The diocese was raised to the level of a metr ...

* Suppressed in 1603, as the city was destroyed in 1600, its territory being reassigned to establish (at present

Penco Penco (Mapudungun: See (''Pen''), Water (''Ko'')), is a Chilean city and commune in Concepción Province, Bío Bío Region on the Bay of Concepción. Founded as the city of Concepción del Nuevo Extremo ('beginning of the new extreme') on Febr ...

) the then Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Concepción (now Metropolitan). ;''Suffragan bishops of La Imperial'' * Antonio de San Miguel Avendaño y Paz,

Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (commonly called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi. The order adheres to the t ...

(O.F.M.) (1563.03.22 – 1588.03.09), next Bishop of

Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

(

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

) (1588.03.09 – death 1590.11.07) * Agustín de Cisneros Montesa (1589.03.09 – death 1596) * Reginaldo de Lizárraga,

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

(O.P.) (Spaniard) (1598.08.31 – 1603), next first Bishop of successor see Concepción (Chile) (1603 – 1609.07.20), Bishop of

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

(Paraguay) (1609.07.20 – 1609.11.10).

Titular see

The diocese was nominally restored in 2000 as Latin

Titular bishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

of La Imperial (Spanish) / Civitatis Imperialis (Latin)''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 912 It has had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank : * Ricardo Ezzati Andrello,

Salesians The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in 1859 by the Italian priest John Bosco to help poor and migrant youth during the ...

(S.D.B.) (Italian) (10 July 2001 - 27 Dec 2006) as

Auxiliary Bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile (Chile) (2001.07.10 – 2006.12.27); previously Bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Valdivia (Chile) (1996.06.28 – 2001.07.10); later Metropolitan Archbishop of Concepción (Chile) (2006.12.27 – 2010.12.15), President of Episcopal Conference of Chile (2010.11 – 2016.11.11), Metropolitan Archbishop of above Santiago (de Chile) (2010.12.15 – ...), created

Cardinal-Priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. ...

of SS. Redentore a Valmelaina (2014.02.22 014.10.11– ...) * Pedro Ossandón Buljevic (4 Nov 2008 - ...) first as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Concepción (Chile) (2008.11.04 – 2012.07.10), then as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile (Chile) (2012.07.10 – ...).

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic

Francisco Solano Asta-Buruaga y Cienfuegos, Diccionario geográfico de la República de Chile, D. Appleton y Compania, Nueva York, 1899

Imperial (Ciudad), pg. 329-330
* Crescente Errázuriz
Seis años de la historia de Chile: 23 de diciembre de 1598- 9 de abril de 1605: memoria histórica, Impr. Nacional, Sanitiago de Chile, 1881.
Destroyed populated places Former Roman Catholic dioceses in America Suppressed Roman Catholic dioceses 1600 disestablishments Geography of Araucanía Region Populated places in Cautín Province Populated places established in 1552 1552 establishments in the Spanish Empire {{Chile-hist-stub pt:La Imperial