The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of León () is an ecclesiastical territory or

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, 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 Roman province, prov ...

of the

Roman 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 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

based in the Mexican city of

León, Guanajuato León (), officially León de Los Aldama, is the most populous city and municipal seat of the municipality of León in the Mexican state of Guanajuato. In the 2020 census, INEGI reported 1,579,803 people living in the city of León and 1,721,21 ...

. It currently covers an area of 41,940 km², and has a population of 6,500,000, including the

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

of Guanajuato and

Querétaro Querétaro, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Querétaro, 18 municipalities. Its capital city is Querétaro Cit ...

. It was created as the Diocese of León on January 26, 1863, by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

, and elevated to the rank of a

metropolitan archdiocese A metropolis, metropolitanate or metropolitan diocese is an episcopal see whose bishop is the metropolitan bishop or archbishop of an ecclesiastical province. Metropolises, historically, have been important cities in their provinces. Eastern Ortho ...

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

on November 25, 2006, with the

suffragan sees 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 by ...

Celaya Celaya (; Otomi: ) is a city and its surrounding municipality in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, located in the southeast quadrant of the state. It is the third most populous city in the state, with a 2005 census population of 310,413. The muni ...

Irapuato Irapuato is a Mexican city and municipalities of Mexico, municipality located at the foot of the Arandas Hill (in Spanish Language, Spanish: ''Cerro de Arandas''), in the central region of the Mexican state, state of Guanajuato. It lies between the ...

, and

. The archdiocese's motherchurch and thus seat of its archbishop is the Catedral Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Luz.

Boundaries

The Archdiocese of León is the metropolitan see of the

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 Alexandr ...

s of Irapuato, Celaya, Querétaro. The Archdiocese of León covers the municipalities of

, San Felipe, Ocampo,

San Francisco del Rincón San Francisco del Rincón is a city and municipality in the western part of the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. The city serves as the municipal seat for the municipality of San Francisco del Rincón. The city lies at the extreme northwest corner of ...

, Purísima del Rincón, Romita,

Silao Silao (), officially Silao de la Victoria, is a city in the west-central part of the state of Guanajuato in Mexico. It is the seat of the municipality with the same name. As of the 2005 census, the city had a population of 66,485, making it the s ...

and Cd. Manuel Doblado. The Diocese of Irapuato includes the municipalities of Abasolo, Cuerámaro, Huanímaro,

, Jaral del Progreso, Pénjamo, Pueblo Nuevo,

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

, and Valle de Santiago. The Diocese of Celaya covers 11 municipalities: San Diego de la Unión,

Dolores Hidalgo Dolores Hidalgo (; in full, Dolores Hidalgo Cuna de la Independencia Nacional, ) is the name of a city and the surrounding municipality in the north-central part of the Mexican state of Guanajuato. It is located at , at an elevation of about a ...

, San Luis de la Paz,

San Miguel de Allende San Miguel de Allende () is the principal city in the Municipalities of Mexico, municipality of San Miguel de Allende (municipality), San Miguel de Allende, located in the far eastern part of Guanajuato, Mexico. A part of the Bajío region, the t ...

, Santa Cruz de Juventino Rosas, Comonfort, Villagrán,

, Apaseo el Grande, Cortazar, and Apaseo el Alto. The

Diocese of Querétaro In Ecclesiastical polity, 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 Roman province, prov ...

covers 18 municipalities of the State of

and 7 municipalities of Guanajuato: Atarjea, Docto Mora, San José Iturbide, Santa Catarina, Tierra Blanca, Victoria, and Xichú.

Bishops

List of Ordinaries of León

* José de Sollano y Dávaols (1863–1881) * Tomás Barón y Morales (1882–1898) *

Santiago Garza Zambrano Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's Chilean Central Valley, central valley and is the center ...

(1898–1900), appointed Archbishop of Linares o Nueva León, Nuevo León *

Leopoldo Ruiz y Flóres Leopoldo Ruiz y Flóres (13 November 1865 – 12 December 1941) was a Mexicans, Mexican prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Morelia, Archbishop of Morelia from 1911 until his death in 1941. He was previously ...

(1900–1907), appointed Archbishop of Linares o Nueva León, Nuevo León *

José Mora y del Rio José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

(1907–1908), appointed Archbishop of México, Federal District * Emeterio Valverde y Télles (1909–1948) * Manuel Martín del Campo Padilla (1948–1965), appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Morelia, Michoacán *

Anselmo Zarza Bernal Anselmo Zarza Bernal (June 4, 1916 – April 15, 2014) was a Mexican bishop in the Roman Catholic Church. Bernal was born in Atlixco, Puebla in June 1916. He was ordained a priest in 1939. He was the Bishop of Linares, Nuevo León, from 1962 to ...

(1966–1992) *

Rafael Garcia González Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California Fiction * ''Rafael'' (TV series), a Mexican telenovela * ''Rafaël'' (film), a 2018 Dutch film People * Rafael (footballer, born 1978) ( ...

(1992–1994) * José Martín Rábago (1995–2012) * Alfonso Cortés Contreras (2012–2024) *

Jaime Calderón Calderón Jaime Calderón Calderón (born May 1, 1966) is a Mexican philosopher and cleric who served as Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Zamora. On July 7, 2018, he was appointed by Pope Francis as Bishop of the Diocese of Tapachula. On July 4, 2024 ...

(2024–present)

Coadjutor bishop

* Manuel Martín del Campo Padilla (1946–1948)

Auxiliary bishop

* Juan Frausto Pallares (2005–2016)

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

Andrés Segura y Domínguez Andres or Andrés may refer to: *Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US *Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France *Andres (name) *Hurricane Andres * "Andres" (song), a 1994 song by L7 See also ...

, appointed Bishop of Tepic, Nayarit in 1906 *

Miguel Darío Miranda y Gómez Miguel Darío Miranda y Gómez (December 19, 1895 – March 15, 1986) was a Mexican Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Mexico City from 1956 to 1977, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1969. Biography Migue ...

, appointed Bishop of Tulancingo, Hidalgo in 1937; future Cardinal *

José Ulises Macías Salcedo José Ulises Macías Salcedo, Archbishop emeritus of the Archdiocese of Hermosillo, was born in León, Guanajuato, Mexico, on October 29, 1940. He studied humanities in the Seminary of his native city, and studied philosophy and theology at the ...

, appointed Bishop of Mexicali, Baja California Norte in 1984 * Gonzalo Galván Castillo, appointed Bishop of Autlán, Jalisco in 2004 *

José Guadalupe Torres Campos José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

(priest here, 1984–2004), appointed auxiliary bishop of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua in 2005 *

Armando António Ortíz Aguirre Armando may refer to: * Armando (given name) * Armando (artist) (1929–2018), the name used by Dutch artist Herman Dirk van Dodeweerd * Armando (producer) Armando Gallop (sometimes written as Armando Gallup) (February 12, 1970 – December 17, ...

, appointed Bishop of Ciudad Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán in 2013 *

Francisco González Ramos Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Meaning of the name Francisco In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Commu ...

(priest here, 1982–2004), appointed Bishop of Izcalli, México in 2014

References

External links

Archdiocese of León website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leon Roman Catholic dioceses in Mexico Religious organizations established in 1863 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 19th century Roman Catholic ecclesiastical provinces in Mexico A 1863 establishments in Mexico