The Archdiocese of Mexico () is a

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

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 associated ...

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

that is situated in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. It was erected as a diocese on 2 September 1530 and elevated to an archdiocese on 12 February 1546."Archdiocese of México"
''

Catholic-Hierarchy.org ''Catholic-Hierarchy.org'' is an online database of bishops and dioceses of the Latin Church and the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches that are in full communion with Rome. The website, not officially sanctioned by the Church, is run as a private pro ...

''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016"Metropolitan Archdiocese of México"
''GCatholic.org''. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016 The archdiocese is one of the largest in the world, with over four million Catholics, surpassed only by

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, Puebla de los Ángeles, Santiago de Guatemala, and

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. Prior to 2019, the archdiocese was the largest in the world, with nearly 8 million Catholics. In September 2019,

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

approved the division of the archdiocese, erecting three new

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 from its territory:

Azcapotzalco Azcapotzalco ( ; ; from ''wikt:azcapotzalli, āzcapōtzalli'' “anthill” + ''wikt:-co, -co'' “place”; literally, “In the place of the anthills”) is a Boroughs of Mexico City, borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. Azcap ...

Iztapalapa Iztapalapa () is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City, located on the eastern side of the city. The borough is named after and centered on the formerly independent municipality of Iztapalapa (officially Iztapalapa de Cuitláhua ...

, and

Xochimilco Xochimilco (; ) is a borough () of Mexico City. The borough is centered on the formerly independent city of Xochimilco, which was established on what was the southern shore of Lake Xochimilco in the precolonial period. Today, the borough cons ...

. These are the only three suffragans within the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

of which the archdiocese is the

metropolitan see 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 ...

. Today, the archdiocese's territory comprises most of

, with the exception of the three new dioceses, each of which is coextensive with its eponymous borough. The

cathedra A ''cathedra'' is the throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term ''cathedral'' became synonymous with the "seat", or principa ...

of the archdiocese is found within the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City.

Bishops

Ordinaries

Ordinaries who became Cardinals: *

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 ...

, in 1969 * Ernesto Corripio y Ahumada, in 1979 *

Norberto Rivera Carrera Norberto Rivera Carrera (born 6 June 1942) is a Mexican prelate of the Catholic Church who was archbishop of Mexico from 1995 to 2017. He was made a cardinal in 1998. He was Bishop of Tehuacán from 1985 to 1995. Early life and ministry Norber ...

, in 1998 * Carlos Aguiar Retes, in 2016 while Archbishop of Tlalnepantla

Coadjutor archbishop

* Miguel Darío Cardinal Miranda y Gómez (1955–1956); future Cardinal

Current auxiliary bishops

* Rogelio Esquivel Medina (appointed 27 June 2001) * Salvador González Morales (appointed 16 February 2019) * Carlos Enrique Samaniego López (appointed 16 February 2019) * Luis Manuel Pérez Raygoza (appointed 25 January 2020) * Héctor Mario Pérez Villarreal (appointed 25 January 2020)

Former auxiliary bishops

* Juan Manuel de Irrizarri y Peralta (27 April 1840 – 27 March 1849) * Maximino Ruiz y Flores (8 March 1920 – 11 May 1949) *

Francisco Orozco Lomelín 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 Comm ...

(19 March 1952 – 17 October 1990) *

José Villalón Mercado 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 , ...

(1 April 1952 – 12 September 1977) * Alfredo Torres Romero (30 December 1967 – 4 January 1975), appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Aguascalientes *

Luis Mena Arroyo Luis Mena Arroyo (April 27, 1920 Churintzio – March 3, 2009) was a Mexican Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico from 1961 to 1964 and, with personal title of Archbishop, from 1979 until 1995. Between those stints, he wa ...

(13 July 1961 – 1 September 1964), appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Chihuahua; returned here as Auxiliary Bishop (27 July 1979 – 9 September 1995), with personal title of Archbishop * Jorge Martínez Martínez (5 June 1971 – 1 August 1994) * Javier Lozano Barragán (5 June 1979 – 28 October 1984), appointed Bishop of Zacatecas; future Cardinal * Francisco María Aguilera González (5 June 1979 – 12 January 1996) * Carlos Talavera Ramírez (15 January 1980 – 14 March 1984), appointed Bishop of Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz * Genaro Alamilla Arteaga (26 January 1980 – 10 October 1989) * Ricardo Watty Urquidi, M.Sp.S. (27 May 1980 – 6 November 1989), appointed Bishop of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas *

Abelardo Alvarado Alcántara Abelardo Alvarado Alcántara (June 8, 1933 – July 3, 2021) was a Mexican Roman Catholic prelate who served as the auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico City from 1985 until 2008. He was also the Secretary General of the ...

(26 April 1985 – 22 July 2008) *

José de Jesús Martínez Zepeda 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 , ...

(11 March 1997 – 3 January 2004), appointed Bishop of Irapuato, Guanajuato * Marcelino Hernández Rodríguez (5 January 1998 – 23 February 2008), appointed Bishop of Orizaba, Veracruz *

José Luis Fletes Santana 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 , ...

(29 January 2000 – 31 May 2003) *

Guillermo Rodrigo Teodoro Ortiz Mondragón Guillermo () is the Spanish form of the male given name William. The name is also commonly shortened to 'Guille' or, in Latin America, to nickname 'Memo'. People * Guillermo Amador (born 1974), American musician *Guillermo Amor (born 1967), Spanis ...

(29 January 2000 – 19 October 2005), appointed Bishop of Cuautitlán, México * Felipe Tejeda García, M.Sp.S. (29 January 2000 – 30 July 2010) * Jonás Guerrero Corona (27 June 2001 – 18 March 2011), appointed Bishop of Culiacán, Sinaloa * Francisco Clavel Gil (27 June 2001 – 28 May 2013) * Antonio Ortega Franco, C.O. (11 February 2004 – 16 February 2019) * José Víctor Manuel Valentín Sánchez Espinosa (2 March 2004 – 5 February 2009), appointed Archbishop of Puebla de los Ángeles, Puebla * Carlos Briseño Arch, O.A.R. (20 May 2006 - 12 November 2018), appointed Bishop of Veracruz * Florencio Armando Colín Cruz (27 November 2008 - 16 February 2019), appointed Bishop of Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca * Jesús Antonio Lerma Nolasco (7 May 2009 - 28 September 2019), appointed Bishop of Iztapalapa *

Crispin Ojeda Márquez Saints Crispin and Crispinian are the Christian patron saints of cobblers, curriers, tanners, and leather workers. They were beheaded during the reign of Diocletian; the date of their execution is given as 25 October 285 or 286. Legend Born ...

(4 June 2011 - 27 July 2018), appointed Bishop of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca * Jorge Estrada Solórzano (28 May 2013 – 11 May 2019), appointed Bishop of Gómez Palacio, Durango * Francisco Daniel Rivera Sánchez, M.Sp.S. (appointed 25 January 2020 – died 18 January 2021)

Other priests of the archdiocese who became bishops

* Bernardo Gárate y López de Arizmendi (15 December 1819 – 19 March 1863), appointed Bishop of Querétaro *

Manuel Fulcheri y Pietrasanta Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name), a given name and surname * Manuel (''Fawlty Towers''), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Manuel I of Portugal, king of Po ...

(17 December 1898 – 6 May 1912), appointed Bishop of Cuernavaca * Gerardo Anaya y Diez de Bonilla (2 April 1904 – 8 March 1920), appointed Bishop of Chiapas (Ciudad Real de Chiapas) * Arturo Vélez Martínez (29 June 1934 – 8 February 1951), appointed Bishop of Toluca

Territorial losses

Education

Colleges, universities, and seminaries

Secondary schools

Former colleges, universities, and seminaries

References

External links and references

Arquidiócesis Primada de México
''official site (in Spanish)'' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mexico Religion in Mexico City Roman Catholic dioceses in Mexico Religious organizations established in the 1530s 1530 establishments in New Spain 1530s establishments in Mexico Religious organizations established in the 1540s 1546 establishments in New Spain Roman Catholic dioceses established in the 16th century A Roman Catholic ecclesiastical provinces in Mexico