Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mérida in Venezuela

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mérida (Latin: Archidioecesis Emeritensis in Venetiola) is a Latin rite Metropolitan Archdiocese in western Venezuela.

Archdiocese of Mérida

Archidioecesis Emeritensis in Venetiola
Location
CountryVenezuela
Statistics
Area8,109 km2 (3,131 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		(as of 2004)
603,464
543,118 (90.0%)
Information
RiteLatin Rite
Established16 February 1778 (242 years ago)
CathedralCatedral Basílica Menor de la Inmaculada Concepción de Mérida
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
BishopBaltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo
Auxiliary BishopsLuis Enrique Rojas Ruiz
Bishops emeritusLuis Alfonso Márquez Molina, C.I.M.
Map

Its cathedral archiepiscopal see is Catedral Basílica Menor de la Inmaculada Concepción de Mérida, a minor basilica located in the city of Mérida. It also has the Minor Basilica of Santa Lucía, in Timotes town, Miranda, Mérida municipality.

History
  • On 16 February 1778 Pope Pius VI established the Diocese of Mérida, on territories split off from the then Diocese of Caracas and Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santafé en Nueva Granada in Colombia.
  • It lost territory repeatedly : on 1863.03.07 to establish the Dioceses of Barquisimeto (now a Metropolitan) and Calabozo; on 1897.07.28 to establish Diocese of Zulia; on 1922.10.12 to establish its suffragan Diocese of San Cristóbal de Venezuela
  • Pope Pius IX elevated the diocese to Metropolitan Archdiocese of Mérida on 11 June 11, 1923.
  • It lost more territory to establish two more suffragans : on 1957.06.04 Trujillo, on 1965.07.23 Barinas
  • It enjoyed a Papal visit from Pope John Paul II in January 1985.
  • On 1994.07.07 it lost territory to establish the Diocese of El Vigía–San Carlos del Zulia
  • On 3 December 2015 it was assigned another suffragan see, the newly created Diocese of Guasdualito

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 566,519 Catholics (85.0% of 666,491 total) on 8,109 km² in 62 parishes and 14 missions with 133 priests (98 diocesan, 35 religious), 21 deacons, 277 lay religious (59 brothers, 218 sisters) and 46 seminarians.

Bishops

(all Roman Rite)

Bishops of Merida
  • Juan Manuel Antonio Ramos Lora, O.F.M. (1782–1790)
  • Cándido Manuel de Torrijos Riguerra, O.P. (1791–1794)
  • Antonio Ramón de Espinosa (y Lorenzo), O.P. (1795–1800)
  • Santiago Hernández Milanés (1801–1812)
  • Rafael Lasso de la Vega (1816–1828), appointed Bishop of Quito
  • José Buenaventura Arias Bergara (1828–1831)
  • José Vicente de Unda (1836–1840)
  • Juan Hilario Bosset (1842–1873)
  • Thomas Zerpa (1876), did not take effect
  • Román Lovera (1880–1892)
  • Antonio Ramón Silva (1894–1923)

Archbishops of Mérida
  • Antonio Ramón Silva (1923–1927)
  • Acacio Chacón Guerra (1927–1966)
  • José Rafael Pulido Méndez (1966–1972)
  • Angel Pérez Cisneros (1972–1979)
  • Miguel Antonio Salas Salas, C.I.M. (1979–1991)
  • Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo (1991–present) (elevated to Cardinal in 2016)

Coadjutor Archbishops
  • Acacio Chacón Guerra (1926-1927)
  • José Humberto Quintero Parra (1953-1960), did not succeed to see; appointed Archbishop of Caracas, Santiago de Venezuela (Cardinal in 1961)
  • José Rafael Pulido Méndez (1961-1966)
  • Angel Pérez Cisneros (1969-1972)

Auxiliary Bishops
  • Jose Buenaventura Arias Bergara (1827–1829)
  • Juan María Leonardi Villasmil (1994–1997), appointed Bishop of Punto Fijo
  • Luis Alfonso Márquez Molina, C.I.M. (2001–2013)
  • Alfredo Enrique Torres Rondón (2013–2016), appointed Bishop of San Fernando de Apure
  • Luis Enrique Rojas Ruiz (2017–present)

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop
  • Juan de Dios Peña Rojas, appointed Bishop of El Vigia-San Carlos del Zulia in 2015

Ecclesiastical province

The Metropolitan's ecclesiastical province comprises his own archbishopric and the following Suffragan sees :

See also

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