Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Barquisimeto

Archdiocese of Barquisimeto Archidioecesis Barquisimetensis
Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Location
Country	Venezuela
Statistics
Area	8,590 km2 (3,320 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2006) 1,754,410 1,142,504 (65.1%)
Information
Rite	Latin Rite
Established	7 March 1863 (161 years ago)
Cathedral	Catedral Nuestra Señora del Carmen
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Archbishop	Antonio José López Castillo
Bishops emeritus	Tulio Manuel Chirivella Varela

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Barquisimeto (Template:Lang-la) is a Latin Catholic Metropolitan archdiocese in northwestern Venezuela's Lara state.

History

• Established on 7 March 1863 as Diocese of Barquisimeto, on territory split off from the then Diocese of Mérida (now Metropolitan)
• Suppressed on 14 August 1867, its territory reassigned to the new, short-lived Diocese of Coro y Barquisimeto (in fact a see transfer to Coro)
• Restored on 22 October 1869 as Diocese of Barquisimeto from that (suppressed) Diocese of Coro y Barquisimeto
• Lost territory on 1922.10.12 to establish the Diocese of Coro and on 1954.06.07 to establish the Diocese of Guanare, its own suffragan
• Promoted on 30 April 1966 as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Barquisimeto.
• Lost territory again to establish two more suffragans : on 1966.10.07 the Diocese of San Felipe and on 1992.07.25 the Diocese of Carora.

Special churches

Its cathedral episcopal see is the very modern Catedral Metropolitana de Barquisimeto in Barquisimeto. There is also a Minor Basilica : Basílica el Santo Cristo de la Gracia, also in Barquisimeto.

Episcopal ordinaries

(all Roman rite)

Suffragan Bishops of Barquisimeto

• Victor José Díez Navarrete (1869.10.22 – death 1893), previously Bishop of Coro y Barquisimeto (Venezuela) (1868.06.22 – 1869.10.22)
• Gregorio Rodríguez y Obregón (1894.05.21 – death 1900)
• Aguedo Felipe Alvarado Liscano (1910.08.15 – death 1926.09.26)
• Enrique María Dubuc Moreno (1926.09.26 – 1947.11.17), previously Titular Bishop of Zaraï (1926.05.25 – 1926.09.26) & Coadjutor Bishop of Barquisimeto (1926.05.25 – 1926.09.26); emeritate as Titular Bishop of Maximiana in Numidia (1947.11.17 – death 1962.06.22)]]
• Críspulo Benítez Fontúrvel (1949.10.21 – 1966.04.30 see below)

Metropolitan Archbishops of Barquisimeto

• Críspulo Benítez Fontúrvel (see above 1966.04.30 – 1982.10.18), also President of Episcopal Conference of Venezuela (1972 – 1978)
• Tulio Manuel Chirivella Varela (1982.10.18 – death 2007.12.22), also Second Vice-President of Latin American Episcopal Council (1991 – 1995), President of Episcopal Conference of Venezuela (1996 – 1999); previously Bishop of Margarita (Venezuela) (1974.04.05 – 1982.10.18)
• Antonio José López Castillo (2007.12.22 – ...); previously Titular Bishop of Theuzi (1988.02.26 – 1992.08.01) & Auxiliary Bishop of Maracaibo (Venezuela) (1988.02.26 – 1992.08.01), Bishop of Barinas (Venezuela) (1992.08.01 – 2001.12.27), Metropolitan Archbishop of Calabozo (Venezuela) (2001.12.27 – 2007.12.22)

Province

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

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Acarigua–Araure
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Carora
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Guanare
• Roman Catholic Diocese of San Felipe, Venezuela

See also

• Roman Catholicism in Venezuela

External links

• GCatholic.org, with incumbent biography links
• Catholic Hierarchy ^{[self-published]}