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 (including non-members)	(as of 2006) 1,754,410 1,142,504 (65.1%)
Information
Rite	Latin Rite
Established	7 March 1863 (158 years ago)
Cathedral	Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Archbishop	vacant

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Barquisimeto (Latin: Archidioecesis Barquisimetensis) 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 12 October 1922 to establish the Diocese of Coro and on 7 June 1954 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 7 October 1966 the Diocese of San Felipe and on 25 July 1922 the Diocese of Carora.

Special churches[]

Its cathedral episcopal see is the very modern Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Barquisimeto. There is also a Minor Basilica : Basílica el Santo Cristo de la Gracia, also in Barquisimeto.

Bishops[]

(all Roman rite)

Episcopal ordinaries[]

Suffragan Bishops of Barquisimeto

• (22 October 1869 – death 1893), previously Bishop of Coro y Barquisimeto (Venezuela) (1868.06.22 – 1869.10.22)
• (21 May 1894 – death 1900)
• (15 August 1910 – death 26 September 1926)
• (26 September 1926 – 17 November 1947), previously Titular Bishop of Zaraï (25 May 1926 – 26 September 1926) & Coadjutor Bishop of Barquisimeto (25 May 1926 – 26 September 1926; emeritate as Titular Bishop of Maximiana in Numidia (17 November 1947– death 22 June 1962)
• Críspulo Benítez Fontúrvel (21 October 1949 – 30 April 1966 see below)

Metropolitan Archbishops of Barquisimeto

• (see above 30 April 1966 – 18 October 1982), also President of Episcopal Conference of Venezuela (1972 – 1978)
• Tulio Manuel Chirivella Varela (18 October 1982 previously Bishop of Margarita (Venezuela) (5 April 1974 – 18 October 1982)
• Antonio José López Castillo (22 December 2007 – 25 March 2020); previously Titular Bishop of Theuzi (26 February 1988 – 1 August 1992) & Auxiliary Bishop of Maracaibo (Venezuela) (26 February 1988 – 1 August 1992), Bishop of Barinas (Venezuela) (01 August 1992 – 27 December 2001), Metropolitan Archbishop of Calabozo (Venezuela) (27 December 2001– 22 December 2007)

Coadjutor bishop[]

• (1926)

Auxiliary bishops[]

• (1967–1970),appointed Bishop of La Guaira
• Eduardo Herrera Riera (1970–1994), appointed Bishop of Carora
• (1999–2006), appointed Bishop of El Vigia-San Carlos del Zulia

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop[]

• , appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Cumaná in 1997

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

References[]

External links[]

Wikisource has the text of the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article Barquisimeto.

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

Coordinates: 10°04′25″N 69°19′17″W / 10.0737°N 69.3214°W / 10.0737; -69.3214