Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Puebla de los Ángeles

The Archdiocese of Puebla de los Angeles (Latin: Archidioecesis Angelorum) is the oldest Roman Catholic diocese in Mexico. It was established on October 13, 1525 as the diocese of Tlaxcala and retained that name until it was elevated to an archdiocese in 1903. In 1959 a new Diocese of Tlaxcala was created and is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Puebla de los Angeles.[2][3] Also suffragan to the archdiocese are the Dioceses of Huajuapan de León and Tehuacán

Archdiocese of Puebla de los Angeles Archidioecesis Angelorum Arquidiócesis de Puebla de los Ángeles
Catedral Metropolitana de Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción
Location
Country	Mexico
Ecclesiastical province	Province of Puebla de los Angeles
Statistics
Area	8,084 sq mi (20,940 km^2)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2004) 4,382,207 4,054,856 (92.5%)
Parishes	207
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	13 October 1525 (494 years ago)
Cathedral	Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Archbishop	Victor Sánchez Espinosa
Auxiliary Bishops	Eugenio Andrés Lira Rugarcía, Rutile Felipe Pozos Lorenzini (Auxiliary Bishop-elect), Tomás López Durán (Auxiliary Bishop-elect)[1]
Bishops emeritus	Rosendo Huesca Pacheco
Website
arquidiocesisdepuebla.mx

A separate diocese for Mexico City was created in 1530 and replaced Seville, Spain as Tlaxcala's metropolitan in 1546, so its place as Mexico's most important Catholic see was short-lived, but Puebla de los Angeles, Puebla is one of the largest archdioceses in Mexico today.

Bishops

Ordinaries

• Julián Garcés, O.P. (1525–1542) Died
• Pablo Gil de Talavera (1544–1545) Died
• Martín Sarmiento de Osacastro, O.F.M. (1548–1557) Died
• Fernando de Villagómez (1561–1571) Died
• Antonio Ruíz de Morales y Molina, O.S. (1572–1576) Died[4]
• Diego de Romano y Govea (Vitoria) (1578–1606) Died[5]
• Alfonso de la Mota y Escobar (1607–1625) Died[6]
• Gutiérrez Bernardo de Quirós (Quiróz) (1626–1638) Died
• Blessed Juan de Palafox y Mendoza (1639–1653) named bishop of Osma
• Diego Osorio de Escobar y Mendoza (Llamas) (1655–1673) Died
• Juan de Sancto Mathía Sáenz de Mañozca y Murillo (1675 Confirmed–Did not take effect)[7]
• Manuel Fernández de Santa Cruz y Sahagún (1676–1699) Died
• Ignacio de Urbina, O.S.H. (1701–1703) (Archbishop (personal title)) Died
• García Felipe de Legazpi y Velasco Altamirano y Albornoz (1704–1705) Died[8]
• Pedro Nogales Dávila (1707–1721) Died
• Juan Antonio de Lardizabal y Elorza (1722–1733) Died
• Benito Crespo y Monroy, O.S. (1734–1737) Died
• Pedro González García (1739–1743) named bishop of Ávila
• Domingo Pantaleón Álvarez de Abreu (1743–1763) (Archbishop (personal title)) Died
• Francisco Fabián y Fuero (1765–1773) named archbishop of Valencia
• Victoriano López Gonzalo (1773–1786) named bishop of Tortosa)
• Santiago José Echaverría Nieto de Osorio y Elguera (1788–1789) Died
• Salvador Biempica y Sotomayor (1790–1802) Died
• Manuel Ignacio González de Campillo Gómez del Valle (1804–1813) Died
• José Antonio Joaquín Pérez Martínez y Robles (1814–1829) Died
• Francisco Pablo Vásquez Bizcaíno (y Sánchez) (1831–1847) Died
• José María Luciano Becerra y Jiménez (1852–1854) Died
• Pelagio Antonio de Labastida y Dávalos (1855–1863) named archbishop of Mexico City
• Carlos María Colina y Rubio (1863–1879) Died
• Francisco de Paula Verea y González (1879–1884) Died
• José María Mora y Daza (1884–1887) Died
• José Maríe del Refugio Guerra y Alva (1888–1888) Died
• Francisco Melitón Vargas y Gutiérrez (1888–1896) Died
• Perfecto Amézquita y Gutiérrez, C.M. (1896–1900) Died
• José Ramón Ibarra y González (1902–1917) Died
• Enrique Sánchez y Paredes (1919–1923) Died
• Pedro Vera y Zuria (1924–1945) Died
• José Ignacio Márquez y Tóriz (1945–1950) Died
• Octaviano Márquez y Tóriz (1950–1975) Died
• Ernesto Corripio y Ahumada (1976–1977) named archbishop of Mexico City
• Rosendo Huesca Pacheco (1977–2009) Retired
• Victor Sánchez Espinosa (2009–Present)

Coadjutor bishop

• José Ignacio Márquez y Tóriz (1934-1945)

Auxiliary bishops

• Francisco Juan Leiza (de Leyva) (1739-1747)
• Miguel Anselmo Álvarez de Abreu y Valdéz (1749-1765), appointed Bishop of Antequera, Oaxaca
• José Ignacio Márquez y Tóriz (1934), appointed Coadjutor here
• Emilio Abascal y Salmerón (1953-1968), appointed Archbishop of Jalapa (Xalapa), Veracruz
• Ricardo Guízar Díaz (1970-1977), appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Aguascalientes
• Rosendo Huesca Pacheco (1970-1977), appointed Archbishop here
• Eugenio Andrés Lira Rugarcía (2011-2016), appointed Bishop of Matamoros, Tamaulipas
• Dagoberto Sosa Arriaga (2011-2013), appointed Bishop of Tlapa, Guerrero
• Tomás López Durán (2013-
• Rutilo Felipe Pozos Lorenzini (2013-

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

• Joaquín Fernández de Madrid y Canal, appointed titular Bishop in 1834
• Luis Munive Escobar, appointed Bishop of Tlaxcala in 1959
• Bartolomé Carrasco Briseño, appointed Bishop of Huejutla, Hidalgo in 1963
• José Trinidad Medel Pérez, appointed Bishop of Tula, Hidalgo in 1986

References

1. http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2013/12/06/0813/01827.html
2. "Metropolitan Archdiocese of Puebla de los Angeles" GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016
3. "Archdiocese of Puebla de los Ángeles, Puebla" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016
4. "Bishop Antonio Ruíz de Morales y Molina, O.S." Catholic–Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved August 27, 2016
5. Catholic Hierarchy: "Bishop Diego de Romano y Govea (Vitoria)" retrieved November 9, 2015
6. "Bishop Alfonso de la Mota y Escobar" Catholic–Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
7. "Bishop Juan de Sancto Mathía Sáenz de Mañozca y Murillo" Catholic–Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved March 21, 2016
8. Catholic Hierarchy: "Bishop García Felipe de Legazpi y Velasco Altamirano y Albornoz" retrieved December 4, 2015

See also

• List of Roman Catholic archdioceses in México
• Puebla City
• Tlaxcala City