Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros explained

Jurisdiction:	Metropolitan Archdiocese
Santiago de los Caballeros
Latin:	Archidioecesis Metropolitae Sancti Iacobi Equitum
Country:	Dominican Republic
Metropolitan:	Santiago de los Caballeros
Province:	Province of Santiago de los Caballeros
Area Km2:	6,391
Population:	1,065,886
Population As Of:	2004
Catholics:	870,635
Catholics Percent:	81.7
Parishes:	86
Denomination:	Roman Catholic
Rite:	Latin Rite
Established:	25 September 1953 (years ago)
Cathedral:	Cathedral of St. James the Apostle
Bishop Title:	Archbishop
Auxiliary Bishops:	Carlos Tomás Morel Diplán
Emeritus Bishops:	Ramón Benito de La Rosa y Carpio (since Saturday, 23 February 2015 Valentin Reynoso Hidalgo, M.S.C. Freddy Antonio de Jesús Bretón Martínez (appointed by Pope Francis on Saturday, 23 February 2015; formerly, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Baní, in Bani, Dominican Republic)^[1]
Map:	Arquidiócesis de Santiago de los Caballeros.svg

The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros (la|Archidioecesis Metropolitae Sancti Iacobi Equitum) is a Latin Rite Metropolitan Archdiocese in the Dominican Republic.

History

Established on 25 September 1953 as the Diocese of Santiago de los Caballeros / Sancti Iacobi Equitum (Latin adjective), on territory split off from Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santo Domingo
Lost territories on 1978-01-16 to establish two suffragan daughters, Diocese of Mao–Monte Cristi and Diocese of San Francisco de Macorís
Promoted on 14 February 1994 as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros / Sancti Iacobi Equitum (Latin)
Lost territory again on 1996-12-16 to establish another suffragan daughter, the Diocese of Puerto Plata.

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 1,118,000 Catholics (83.7% of 1,336,000 total) on 3,633 km² in 89 parishes and 17 missions with 125 priests (74 diocesan, 51 religious), 132 deacons, 350 lay religious (136 brothers, 214 sisters) and 37 seminarians.

Ecclesiastical province

The Metropolitan has the following suffragan sees :

Bishops

(all Roman Rite)

Episcopal ordinaries

Suffragan Bishops of Santiago de los Caballeros

Apostolic Administrator Octavio Antonio Beras Rojas (1953 – 1956-07-22) while Titular Archbishop of Euchaitæ (1945-05-02 – 1961-12-10) and Coadjutor Archbishop of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) (1945-05-02 – 1961-12-10)
Hugo Eduardo Polanco Brito (1956-07-22 – 1966-03-14)
Roque Antonio Adames Rodríguez (1966.03.14 – 1992-04-22)
- Auxiliary bishop Jesús María de Jesús Moya (1977-04-13 – 1984-04-20)
Juan Antonio Flores Santana (1992-07-13 – 1994-02-14 see below)

Metropolitan Archbishops of Santiago de los Caballeros

Juan Antonio Flores Santana (see above 1994-02-14 - 2003-07-16)
- Auxiliary bishop Diómedes Espinal de León (2000-04-20 – 2006.05-24)
Ramón Benito de La Rosa y Carpio (2003-07-16 – 2015-02-23)
Freddy Antonio de Jesús Bretón Martinez (2015-02-23 – ...)
- Auxiliary bishop Valentin Reynoso Hidalgo, (M.S.C.), (2007-10-22 – ...) Titular Bishop of Mades
- Auxiliary Bishop Carlos Tomás Morel Diplán, (2016-12-14 – ...) Titular Bishop of Capo della Foresta
Héctor Rafael Rodríguez Rodríguez, (2023 - present)

Auxiliary bishops

Hugo Eduardo Polanco Brito (1953-1956), appointed Bishop here
Jesús María de Jesús Moya (1977-1984), appointed Bishop of San Francisco de Macorís
Diómedes Espinal de León(2000-2006), appointed Bishop of Mao-Monte Cristi
Valentín Reynoso Hidalgo, M.S.C. (2007-2018)
Carlos Tomás Morel Diplán (2016-)

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

Gregorio Nicanor Peña Rodríguez, appointed Bishop of Puerto Plata in 1996
José Amable Durán Tineo, appointed auxiliary bishop of Santo Domingo in 2020

Sources and external links

GCatholic - data for all sections
Official website of the Archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros
Web site: Archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros. Catholic-Hierarchy. 2007-02-15.
Conferencia del Episcopado Dominicano (Bishops' Conference)

19.4503°N -70.7067°W

Notes and References

Web site: Web Translator.