Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santo Domingo

Archdiocese of Santo Domingo Archidioecesis Sancti Dominici Arquidiócesis de Santo Domingo
Basílica Catedral Metropolitana Santa María de la Encarnación
Location
Country	Dominican Republic
Ecclesiastical province	Province of Santo Domingo
Metropolitan	Santo Domingo
Statistics
Area	4,033 km2 (1,557 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2010) 5,770,529 4,890,250 (84.7%)
Parishes	212
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Latin Rite
Established	8 August 1511 (505 years ago)
Cathedral	Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Incarnation
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Archbishop	Francisco Ozoria Acosta
Auxiliary Bishops	Victor Emilio Masalles Pere
Emeritus Bishops	Pablo Cedano Cedano, Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez
Map

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santo Domingo (Latin: Archidioecesis Sancti Dominici; Spanish: Arquidiócesis de Santo Domingo) (erected 8 August 1511 as the Diocese of Santo Domingo) is a Metropolitan Archdiocese in the Dominican Republic. Its suffragan dioceses are Baní, Barahona, Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia en Higüey, San Juan de la Maguana and San Pedro de Macorís. The see was elevated to an archdiocese on 12 February 1546.

History

The see was erected by Pope Julius II by the Bull Pontifex Romanus which also established the See of Concepción de la Vega and the See of San Juan of Porto Rico. Three prelates, who had been appointed to the sees comprising the ecclesiastical province created in 1504 by the same pope, united their petition to that of the Crown in requesting the Holy See to suppress them and to establish the three new dioceses as suffragans to the See of Seville. This alteration was effected before any of the prelates in question had taken possession of his diocese or been consecrated a bishop.

Father Francisco Garcia de Padilla, a Franciscan, who in 1504 had been designed to occupy the See of Bayuna (Baynoa, Baiunensis), was chosen the first Bishop of Santo Domingo. He died before his consecration, after having named Rev. Carlos de Aragón his vicar-general and authorized him to take possession of the diocese. The first bishop to occupy the See of Santo Domingo was Alessandro Geraldini, who was appointed in 1516 and died in 1524. He was a native of Italy, and perhaps the only representative of the Americas to attend the Fifth Lateran Council.

Pope Paul III on 12 February 1545 elevated Santo Domingo to the rank of an archdiocese, and the incumbent of the see at the time, Bishop Alonso de Fuenmayor, became its first archbishop. As the first metropolitan see of America Santo Domingo had five suffragan sees: Diocese of Puerto Rico, Diocese of Santiago in Cuba, Diocese of Coro in Venezuela, Diocese of Santa Marta in Colombia, and Diocese of Guatemala. The Diocese of Concepción de la Vega had been united, after the death of its first bishop, Pedro Suárez de Deza, to the See of Santo Domingo by Apostolic authority.

The Bull of Pope Alexander VI, dated 24 June 1493, designated the Franciscan Bernardo Buil (Boil) to accompany Columbus on his second voyage of discovery, with faculties as Apostolic delegate or vicar. He did not make the journey, and his Benedictine near-namesake did. On 30 August 1495, a band of Franciscans and other missioners did arrive in Hispaniola.^[1]

In recognition of the fact that the see was the first established in the Western Hemisphere, the Archbishop of Santo Domingo can use the title of Primate of the Americas, according to the bull of Pope Pius VII Divinis praeceptis issued on 28 November 1816 and ratified by the Concordat between the Holy See and Dominican Republic signed on 16 June 1954. The Santa María la Menor cathedral was designated a minor basilica by Benedict XV in his apostolic letter Inter Americae on 14 June 1920.^[2]

Ordinaries

Diocese of Santo Domingo

Erected: August 8, 1511

• Francisco Garcia de Padilla, O.F.M. (1511–1515) Died^[3]
• Alejandro Geraldini (1516–1524) Died^[4]
• Luis de Figueroa, O.S.H. (1523–1526), Died, never consecrated^[5]
• Sebastián Ramírez de Fuenleal (1527–1538), Appointed, Bishop of Tui^[6]

Archdiocese of Santo Domingo

Elevated February 12, 1546

• Alfonso de Fuenmayor (1538–1554), Died, first archbishop as of 11 February 1546.^[7]
• Diego de Covarrubias y Leiva (1556–1560), Appointed, Archbishop (Personal Title) of Ciudad Rodrigo.^[8]
• Juan Salcedo (bishop) (1562–1566) Died^[9]
• Juan Alzóloras (Arzolaras), O.S.H. (1566–1568), Appointed, Archbishop (Personal Title) of Islas Canarias^[10]
• Francisco Andrés de Carvajal, O.F.M. (1570–1577) Died^[11]
• Alfonso López de Avila (1580–1591), Appointed, Archbishop of Santafé en Nueva Granada^[12]
• Nicolás de Ramos y Santos, O.F.M. (1592–1599) Died^[13]
• Agustín Dávila Padilla, O.P. (1599–1604) Died
• Domingo Valderrama y Centeno, O.P. (1606–1608), Appointed, Archbishop (Personal Title) of La Paz)^[14]
• Cristóbal Rodríguez Juárez, O.P. (1608–1613), Appointed, Archbishop (Personal Title) of Arequipa^[15]
• Diego de Contreras, O.S.A. (1612-1618) Died)^[16]
• Pedro de Solier y Vargas, O.S.A. (1619–1620) Died^[17]
• Pedro de Oviedo Falconi, O. Cist. (1621–1628), Confirmed, Archbishop (Personal Title) of Quito^[18]
• Fernando de Vera y Zuñiga, O.S.A. (1628–1629), Confirmed, Archbishop (Personal Title) of Cuzco^[19]
• Bernardino de Almansa Carrión (1629–1631), Confirmed, Archbishop of Santafé en Nueva Granada^[20]
• Facundo de la Torre, O.S.B. (1632–1640) Died^[21]
• Diego de Guevara y Estrada (1640–1642) Died^[22]
• Maestro Valderas, O. de M. (1647–1648) Resigned^[23]
• Francisco Pio Guadalupe Téllez (1648-1660) Died)^[24]
• Francisco de la Cueva Maldonado (1662–1667) Died^[25]
• Juan de Escalante Turcios y Mendoza (1673–1677) Confirmed, Archbishop (Personal Title) of Yucatán^[26]
• Domingo Fernández Navarrete, O.P. (1682-1686)
• Fernando de Carvajal y Ribera, O. de M. (1687–1700) Resigned)^[27]
• Francisco del Rincón, O.M. (1705–1714), Appointed, Archbishop (Personal Title) of Caracas, Santiago de Venezuela
• Antonio Claudio Alvarez de Quiñones (1717–1725), Appointed, Archbishop of Santafé en Nueva Granada
• Francisco Mendigaño Armendáriz (1726–1728) Died
• Juan de Galabis, O. Praem. (1729–1738), Confirmed, Archbishop of Santafé en Nueva Granada
• Domingo Pantaleón Álvarez de Abreu (1738–1743), Confirmed, Archbishop (Personal Title) of Tlaxcala (Puebla de los Angeles)
• Ignacio Padilla Estrada, O.S.A. (1743–1753), Confirmed, Archbishop (Personal Title) of Yucatán
• José Moreno Curiel, O.SS.T. (1753-1755) Died
• Felipe Ruiz Ausmendi (1757–1768) Died
• Isidro Rodríguez Lorenzo, O.S.Bas. (1767-1788) Retired
• Fernando del Portillo y Torres, O.P. (1788–1798) Appointed, Archbishop of Santafé en Nueva Granada
• Pedro Valera y Jiménez (1814–1833) Died
• Bienvenudo Monzon y Martin (1862–1866) Died
• Fernando Antonio Arturo de Merino y Ramírez (1885–1906) Died
• Adolfo Alejandro Nouel y Boba-Dilla (1906–1935) Resigned
• Ricardo Pittini, S.D.B. (1935–1961) Died
• Octavio Antonio Beras Rojas (1961–1981) Retired
• Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez (1981–2016)
• Francisco Ozoria Acosta (2016-)

Auxiliary bishops

• Pablo Cedano Cedano (1996–2013); emeritus^[28]
• Amancio Escapa Aparici, O.C.D. (1996–2016)
• Victor Emilio Masalles Pete (2010–present)

Territorial losses

References

External links

• "Archdiocese of Santo Domingo". Catholic-Hierarchy. Retrieved 2012-05-13. 

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Archdiocese of Santo Domingo". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton. 

Coordinates: 18°28′23″N 69°53′02″W / 18.47306°N 69.88389°W / 18.47306; -69.88389