The Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico (; ) is a diocese of the Catholic Church comprising the northeast portion of the island of Puerto Rico.
Ecclesiastical Province of San Juan
The jurisdiction of the Ecclesiastical Province of San Juan covers the Archdiocese of San Juan (that includes the municipalities of Dorado, Toa Baja, Cataño, Toa Alta, Bayamón, Guaynabo, San Juan, Trujillo Alto, and Carolina), which is the metropolitan see of the following suffragan dioceses:
Churches in the Archdiocese of San Juan
History
On November 15, 1504, Pope Julius II issued the papal bull Illius fulciti, which erected the first ecclesiastical province in the New World. It established the Archdiocese of Hyaguata (located at Santo Domingo), the Diocese of Magua (located at Concepción de La Vega), and the Diocese of Bayuna (located at Lares de Guahaba). As all the dioceses were located on the island of Hispañiola, the Spanish Crown requested that the Diocese of Bayuna be transferred to Puerto Rico. The Bull never went into effect due to the objection of Ferdinand II of Aragon who opposed that the bull gave the dioceses the right to receive a portion of the earnings from the gold and precious stones discovered in the territory.
On August 8, 1511, Julius II issued the new papal bull Pontifax Romanus, which extinguished the previously granted ecclesiastical province and its dioceses and reassigned their delegated bishops:
The See of San Juan de Puerto Rico was canonically erected on August 8, 1511, as the Diocese of Puerto Rico on the island of San Juan, as it was then called. Due to the switch of names between the island and the capital its name was changed on November 21, 1924, to the Diocese of San Juan in Puerto Rico. With the creation of the Diocese of Arecibo on April 30, 1960, San Juan was raised to the status of an archdiocese, with the new archbishop leading a metropolitan province comprising all the dioceses on the island as suffragan dioceses.
The Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico is the metropolitan see for the suffragan dioceses of Caguas, FajardoâÂÂHumacao, Ponce, Mayagüez and Arecibo.
The current archbishop is Roberto González Nieves, O.F.M.
On August 29, 2018, the archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. On September 27, 2018, federal Judge Edward Godoy protected all assets of the archdiocese and its suffragan dioceses under Chapter 11, protecting them from seizures by individual creditors, for example, as payments to retired teachers.
Bishops
The lists of bishops, archbishops and auxiliary bishops and their terms of service:
Bishops of Puerto Rico
- Alonso Manso (1511âÂÂ1539 died)
- Rodrigo de Bastidas y Rodriguez de Romera (1541âÂÂ1567 resigned)
- Francisco Andrés de Carvajal, O.F.M. (1568âÂÂ1570 appointed, Archbishop of Santo Domingo)
- Manuel de Mercado Aldrete, O.S.H. (1570âÂÂ1576 appointed, Bishop of Panamá)
- Diego de Salamanca Polanco, O.S.A. (1576âÂÂ1587 resigned)
- Nicolás de Ramos y Santos, O.F.M. (1588âÂÂ1592 appointed, Archbishop of Santo Domingo)
- Antonio Calderón de León (1593âÂÂ1598 appointed, Bishop of Panamá)
- MartÃÂn Vasquez de Arce, O.P. (1599âÂÂ1609 died)
- Francisco Diaz de Cabrera y Córdoba, O.P. (1611âÂÂ1614 appointed, Bishop of Trujillo)
- Pedro de Solier y Vargas, O.S.A. (1614âÂÂ1619 appointed, Archbishop of Santo Domingo)
- Bernardo de Valbuena y Villanueva (1620âÂÂ1627 died)
- Juan López de Agurto de la Mata (1631âÂÂ1634 confirmed, Bishop of Coro)
- Juan Alonso de Solis y Mendoza, O. Carm. (1636âÂÂ1641 died)
- Damián Lopez de Haro y Villarda, O.SS.T. (1643âÂÂ1648 died)
- Hernando de Lobo Castrillo, O. Carm. (1649âÂÂ1651 died)
- Francisco Naranjo, O.P. (1652âÂÂ1655 died)
- Juan Francisco Arnaldo Isasi (1656âÂÂ1661 died)
- Benito de Rivas, O.S.B. (1663âÂÂ1668 died)
- Bartolomé Garcia de Escañuela, O.F.M. (1670âÂÂ1676 appointed, Bishop of Durango)
- Juan de Santiago y León Garabito (1676âÂÂ1677 confirmed, Bishop of Guadalajara)
- Marcos de Sobremonte (1677âÂÂ1681 died)
- Juan Francisco de Padilla y San MartÃÂn, O. de M. (1683âÂÂ1699 appointed, Bishop of Santa Cruz de la Sierra)
- Jerónimo Nosti de Valdés, O.S.Bas. (1704âÂÂ1705 appointed, Bishop of San Cristobal de la Habana)
- Pedro de la Concepcion y Urtiaga, O.F.M. (1707âÂÂ1715 died)
- Raimundo Caballero, O.S.B. (1716âÂÂ1716 died)
- Fernando de Valdivia y Mendoza, O.A.R. (1718âÂÂ1725 died)
- Sebastián Lorenzo Pizarro, O.S.Bas. (1727âÂÂ1736 died)
- Francisco Pérez Lozano, O.S.Bas. (1738âÂÂ1743 died)
- Francisco Placido de Béjar, O.S.Bas. (1743âÂÂ1745 died)
- Francisco Julián Antolino (1748âÂÂ1752 confirmed, Bishop of Caracas, Santiago de Venezuela)
- Pedro MartÃÂnez de Oneca (1756âÂÂ1760 died)
- Mariano Martà(1761âÂÂ1770 appointed, Bishop of Caracas, Santiago de Venezuela)
- Manuel Jiménez Pérez, O.S.B. (1771âÂÂ1781 died)
- Felipe José de Tres-Palacios y Verdeja (1784âÂÂ1789 appointed, Bishop of San Cristobal de la Habana)
- Francisco de Cuerda (1790âÂÂ1795 resigned)
- Juan Bautista de Zengotita y Bengoa, O. de M. (1795âÂÂ1802 died)
- Juan Alejo de Arizmendi de La Torre (1803âÂÂ1814 died)
- Mariano RodrÃÂguez de Olmedo y Valle (1815âÂÂ1825 confirmed, Bishop of San Cristobal de la Habana)
- Pedro Gutiérrez de Cos y Saavedra Seminario (1826âÂÂ1833 died)
- Francisco Fleix y Soláns (1846âÂÂ1846 confirmed, Bishop of San Cristobal de la Habana)
- Francisco de La Puente, O.P. (1846âÂÂ1848 confirmed, Bishop of Segovia)
- Gil Estévez y Tomás (1848âÂÂ1854 confirmed, Bishop of Tarazona)
- Vicente Benigno Carrión, O.F.M. Cap. (1857âÂÂ1871 died)
- Juan Antonio Puig y Montserrat, O.F.M. (1874âÂÂ1894 died)
- Toribio Minguella y Arnedo, O.A.R. (1894âÂÂ1898 appointed, Bishop of Sigüenza)
- Francisco Javier Valdés y Noriega, O.S.A. (1898âÂÂ1899 resigned)
- James Herbert Blenk, S.M. (1899âÂÂ1906 appointed, Archbishop of New Orleans, Louisiana)
- William Ambrose Jones, O.S.A. (1907âÂÂ1921 died)
- George Joseph Caruana (1921âÂÂ1925), title changed with name of diocese
Bishops of San Juan de Puerto Rico
- George Joseph Caruana (1924âÂÂ1925), appointed, Apostolic Delegate to México
- Edwin Vincent Byrne (8 Mar 1929 - 12 Jun 1943), appointed Archbishop of Santa Fe
- James Peter Davis (1943âÂÂ1960), elevated to archbishop
Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico
- James Peter Davis (1960âÂÂ1964), appointed Archbishop of Santa Fe
- Luis Aponte MartÃÂnez (1964âÂÂ1999) (elevated to cardinal in 1973)
- Roberto González Nieves, O.F.M. (1999âÂÂpresent)
Auxiliary bishops
Other priests of this diocese who became bishops
High schools
Bankruptcy
On January 11, 2018, Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of San Juan filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, stating that the current pension plan was unworkable and applied for a new plan which has an estimated $10 million in assets and $10 million in liabilities. On March 27, 2018, local Judge Anthony Cuevas issued an embargo against the Archdiocese of San Juan which would remain in effect until they could find $4.7 million to pay for teachers pension. It was also ruled that the Catholic Church in Puerto Rico was a single entity and that the embargo would also apply to all the suffragan dioceses of the Archdiocese of San Juan. On August 29, 2018, the Archdiocese of San Juan filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, noting that they were unable find the $4.7 million. On September 7, 2018, US Bankruptcy Judge Edward Godoy protected the Archdiocese of San Juan under Chapter 11, avoiding seizure of assets and payment of pensions to their retired teachers. The bankruptcy will also apply to other Dioceses in Puerto Rico as well.
References
External links