The Archdiocese of Seville is part of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. The Diocese of Seville was founded in the 3rd century. It was raised to the level of an archdiocese in the 4th century. The current archbishop is

José Ángel Saiz Meneses José Ángel Saiz Meneses (born 2 August 1956) is a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church who has served as the metropolitan archbishop of Seville since 2021. He has been a bishop since 2001, serving as an auxiliary in Barcelona from 2001 to 20 ...

. It has the suffragan dioceses of: * Cádiz y Ceuta * Córdoba *

Huelva Huelva (, ) is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is between two short rias though has an outlying spur including nature reserve on the Gulf of Cádiz coast. The ria ...

* Canaries *

Jerez de la Frontera Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway bet ...

* San Cristóbal de La Laguna o Tenerife

Early History of the Diocese

During

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

times

was the capital of the Province of

Baetica Hispania Baetica, often abbreviated Baetica, was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula). Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania, and to the northeast by Hispania Tarraconensis. Baetica remained one of the basi ...

, and the origin of the diocese goes back to apostolic times, or at least to the 1st century. Saint Gerontius, Bishop of

Italica Italica ( es, Itálica) was a Roman town founded by Italic settlers in Hispania; its site is close to the town of Santiponce, part of the province of Seville in modern-day Spain. It was founded in 206 BC by Roman general Scipio as a settleme ...

, preached in

, and without doubt must have left a pastor of its own to

. It is certain that in 303, when Saints

Justa and Rufina Saints Justa and Rufina (Ruffina) ( es, Santa Justa y Santa Rufina) are venerated as martyrs. They are said to have been martyred at Hispalis (Seville) during the 3rd century. Only St. Justa (sometimes "Justus" in early manuscripts) is mention ...

were

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

ed for refusing to adore the

idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and philosophy * Cult image, a neutral term for a man-made object that is worshipped or venerated for the deity, spirit or demon that it embodies or represents * Murti, a point of focus for devotion or medit ...

Salambo, there was a Bishop of Seville named Sabinus, who assisted at the Council of Illiberis in 287. ''Zeno'' (472–486) was appointed

vicar apostolic A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

Pope Simplicius Pope Simplicius (died 2 or 10 March 483) was the bishop of Rome from 468 to his death. He combated the Eutychian heresy, ended the practice of consecrating bishops only in December, and sought to offset the effects of Germanic invasions. Electi ...

, and

Pope Hormisdas Pope Hormisdas (450 – 6 August 523) was the bishop of Rome from 20 July 514 to his death. His papacy was dominated by the Acacian schism, started in 484 by Acacius of Constantinople's efforts to placate the Monophysites. His efforts to resolve ...

gave the same charge to Bishop Sallustius in the provinces of Baetica and Lusitania. However, the see was rendered illustrious above all by the holy brothers Saints Leander and

Isidore Isidore ( ; also spelled Isador, Isadore and Isidor) is an English and French masculine given name. The name is derived from the Greek name ''Isídōros'' (Ἰσίδωρος) and can literally be translated to "gift of Isis." The name has survived ...

. The former of these contributed to the conversion of Saint Hermengild and Recared, and presided at the

Third Council of Toledo The Third Council of Toledo (589) marks the entry of Visigothic Spain into the Catholic Church, and is known for codifying the filioque clause into Western Christianity."Filioque." Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. ...

in 589. While the latter presided at the

Fourth Council of Toledo The Fourth Council of Toledo was held in 633. It was convened by Visigothic king Sisenand and took place at the church of Saint Leocadia in Toledo. Probably under the presidency of the noted Isidore of Seville, the council regulated many matters ...

and was the teacher of medieval Spain. The king's son ''Philip'' was appointed Archbishop of Seville, while he was given as coadjutor the Dominican Raimundo de Losada, Bishop of Segovia, who became archbishop five years later, on the abdication of the

Infante ''Infante'' (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as Infant or translated as Prince, is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to th ...

. In addition to the cathedral chapter, another community of clerics was formed to sing the Divine Office in the Chapel Royal of Our Lady of the Kings (Nuestra Senora de los Reyes) about 1252. Most of the other mosques of the city were converted into churches, but Santa María la Blanca, Santa Cruz, and San Bartolome were left to the Jews for synagogues. The cathedral originated in the great

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

which was the work of the

emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

s who built the

Aljama ''Aljama'' (, , ) is a term of Arabic origin used in old official documents in Spain and Portugal to designate the self-governing communities of Moors and Jews living under Christian rule in the Iberian Peninsula. In some present-day Spanish cit ...

, rebuilt in 1171 by the

Almohad The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the unity of God) was a North African Berber Muslim empire fou ...

emir, Yusuf-ben Yacub. The famous tower called the

Giralda The Giralda ( es, La Giralda ) is the bell tower of Seville Cathedral in Seville, Spain. It was built as the minaret for the Great Mosque of Seville in al-Andalus, Moorish Spain, during the reign of the Almohad dynasty, with a Renaissance-style ...

is due to

Almanzor Abu ʿĀmir Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn Abi ʿĀmir al-Maʿafiri ( ar, أبو عامر محمد بن عبد الله بن أبي عامر المعافري), nicknamed al-Manṣūr ( ar, المنصور, "the Victorious"), which is often Latiniz ...

. In order to secure the liturgical orientation, when the mosque was converted into a cathedral its width was made the length of the new church; and it was divided into two parts, the lesser part, on the cast, being separated from the rest by a balustrade and grating, to form the chapel royal.

List of Bishops and Archbishops of Seville

Early bishops

1300 to 1500

1500 to 1700

1700 to 1900

1900 to present

* Marcelo Spinola y Maestre (2 December 1895 – 20 January 1906) (Cardinal in 1905) * Salvador Castellote y Pinazo (6 December 1906 – 23 December 1906) *

Enrique Almaraz y Santos Enrique Almaraz y Santos S.T.D. (22 September 1847 – 22 January 1922) was a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and Archbishop of Seville and, later, Archbishop of Toledo and so Primate of Spain. Early life and priesthood Enrique Almar ...

(18 April 1907 – 16 December 1920) (Cardinal in 1912), appointed Archbishop of Toledo * Eustaquio Ilundáin y Esteban (16 December 1920 – 10 August 1937) (Cardinal in 1925) *(Cardinal) Pedro Segura y Sáenz (14 September 1937 – 8 April 1957) * José Bueno y Monreal (8 April 1957 – 22 May 1982) (Cardinal in 1958) * Carlos Amigo Vallejo (22 May 1982 – 5 November 2009) (Cardinal in 2003) * Juan Asenjo Pelegrina (5 November 2009 – 17 April 2021) *

(17 April 2021 – present)

Auxiliary bishops

References

External links

Archidiócesis de SevillaCentro de Estudios Teológicos de Sevilla
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seville

* Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Seville