The

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Diocese of Cuauhtémoc-Madera () is a Latin

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 ...

diocese in 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 the Metropolitan

Archdiocese of Chihuahua The Archdiocese of Chihuahua
() is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Mexico. CatedralChihuahua ...<br></span></div> (northern <div class= 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 ...

). Its

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

episcopal see is the Catedral de San Antonio, dedicated to

Saint Anthony of Padua Anthony of Padua, OFM, (; ; ) or Anthony of Lisbon (; ; ; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese Catholic priest and member of the Order of Friars Minor. Anthony was born and raised by a wealth ...

, in

Cuauhtémoc Cuauhtémoc (, ), also known as Cuauhtemotzín, Guatimozín, or Guatémoc, was the Aztec ruler ('' tlatoani'') of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521, and the last Aztec Emperor. The name Cuauhtemōc means "one who has descended like an eagle", an ...

, Chihuahua State.
It also has a

Co-Cathedral A co-cathedral is a cathedral church which shares the function of being a bishop's seat, or ''cathedra'', with another cathedral, often in another city (usually a former see, anchor city of the metropolitan area or the civil capital). Instances o ...

, the former see of the territorial prelature of Madera : Cocatedral de San Pedro, dedicated to

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

, in Madera, also in Chihuahua State.

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 353,296 Catholics (86.8% of 406,980 total) on 37,405 km² in 26 parishes with 42 priests (32 diocesan, 10 religious), 67 lay religious (10 brothers, 57 sisters) and 9 seminarians.

History

It was erected as the

Territorial Prelature A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

of Madera on 25 April 1966, on territories split off from the Metropolitan

Archdiocese of Chihuahua The Archdiocese of Chihuahua
() is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Mexico. CatedralChihuahua ...<br></span></div>, <a class= Diocese of Ciudad Juárez and Diocese of Ciudad Obregón. Its name was changed after its new see when it was elevated to bishopric as Diocese of Cuauhtémoc-Madera (a double name reflecting new and former see) on 17 November 1995, having gained more territory, again from the Archdiocese of Chihuahua, which became its Metropolitan.

Bishops

Ordinaries

(all

Roman Rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs Rite (Christianity) ...

) *

Apostolic Administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

Father Justo Goizueta Gridilla, Augustinian Recollects (O.A.R.) (1967 – 1970.01.14 ''see below'') ;''Territorial Prelates of Madera'' * Justo Goizueta Gridilla, O.A.R. (''see above'' 1970.01.14 – retired 1988.02.02),

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Egara (1970.01.14 – 1978.02.15); died 1991 *

Renato Ascencio León Renato Ascencio León (11 May 1939 – 27 June 2022) was a Mexican Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with ...

(1988.07.19 – 1994.10.07), later Bishop of

Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez ( , ; "Juárez City"), commonly referred to as just Juárez (Lipan language, Lipan: ''Tsé Táhú'ayá''), is the most populous city in the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua. It was k ...

(Mexico) (1994.10.07 – 2014.12.20) ;''Suffragan Bishops of Cuauhtémoc–Madera'' * Juan Guillermo López Soto (17 November 1995 - 8 September 2021), no previous prelature; died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

on September 8, 2021

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

* Constancio Miranda Wechmann, appointed Bishop of Atlacomulco, México in 1998

References

Sources, external links and references

*
GCatholic, with Google map and - satellite photo
Cuauhtemoc-Madera Cuauhtemoc-Madera, Roman Catholic Diocese of Cuauhtemoc-Madera Cuauhtemoc-Madera {{Mexico-RC-diocese-stub