The Archdiocese of Buenos Aires (''Archidioecesis Bonaerensis'') is one of thirteen Latin Metropolitan
archdioceses 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 ...
in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, South America.
The Archbishopric of Buenos Aires is the
Primatial see
Primate () is a title or rank bestowed on some important archbishops in certain Christian churches. Depending on the particular tradition, it can denote either jurisdictional authority ( title of authority) or (usually) ceremonial precedence (t ...
(protocollary first-rank) of Argentina, although the incumbent Metropolitan may be outranked by Cardinals or more senior ones. On 13 March 2013,
then-Archbishop Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as
Pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
, under the name of Francis. The current archbishop, since 28 March 2013, is
Mario Aurelio Poli, appointed by Pope Francis to succeed him as Archbishop of Buenos Aires.
Statistics and extent
At the beginning of the twentieth century,
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
was the second largest
Catholic
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 ...
city in the
world
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
after
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
.
In 2014 the Archdiocese pastorally served 2,721,000 Catholics (91.6% of 2,971,000 total) in an area of 205 km
2 in 186
parishes and 183 missions with 783 priests (456 diocesan, 327 religious), 11 deacons, 1,915 lay
religious
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...
(477 brothers, 1,438 sisters) and 53 seminarians. It is divided into the four zonal vicaries—Flores, Devoto, Belgrano and Centro—which are further subdivided into 20 deaconates.
Special churches
* Its
cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...
mother church
Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral or a metropo ...
is the
Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral, dedicated to the
Holy Trinity, in the autonomous city of
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, the national capital of
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
.
* It also has the following
Minor basilica
In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...
s, all in the metropolitan Buenos Aires area: Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Buenos Aires, Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Merced, Buenos Aires, Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Piedad, Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar, Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Socorro, Basílica de San Antonio de Padua, Basílica de San Carlos Borromeo y María Auxiliadora, Basílica de San Francisco de Asís, Basílica de San José de Flores, Basílica de San Nicolás de Bari (a National Shrine), Basílica de Santa Rosa de Lima, Basílica del Espíritu Santo, Basílica del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, Buenos Aires and Basílica del Santísimo Sacramento.
Ecclesiastical province
The archdiocese has eleven
suffragan sees, of which nine are Latin:
*
Roman Catholic Diocese of Avellaneda-Lanús
The Latin Rite Catholic Diocese of Avellaneda-Lanús (erected 10 April 1961, as the Diocese of Avellaneda) is in Argentina and is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires. It was renamed on 24 April 2001.
Bishops Ordinaries
*Emilio Antonio ...
*
Roman Catholic Diocese of Gregorio de Laferrere
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Gregorio de Laferrere (erected 25 November 2000) is in Argentina and is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires.
Ordinaries
*Juan Horacio Suárez (25 November 2000 − 19 December 2013)
* Gabriel Bernardo Barb ...
*
Roman Catholic Diocese of Lomas de Zamora
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lomas de Zamora (erected 11 February 1957) is in Argentina and is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires.
Bishops Ordinaries
* Filemón Castellano (1957–1963)
* Alejandro Schell (1963–1972)
* Desiderio E ...
*
Roman Catholic Diocese of Morón
The Diocese of Morón is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Argentina. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Buenos Aires in Argentina.
Its cathedra ...
*
Roman Catholic Diocese of Quilmes
*
Roman Catholic Diocese of San Isidro
*
Roman Catholic Diocese of San Justo
*
Roman Catholic Diocese of San Martín
*
Roman Catholic Diocese of San Miguel
It also has two
Eastern Catholic
The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of ...
suffragans :
*
Maronite Eparchy of San Charbel of Buenos Aires
*
Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Santa María del Patrocinio en Buenos Aires.
History
* It was erected on 6 April 1620 as Diocese of Buenos Aires, on territory split off from the then
Roman Catholic Diocese of Paraguay
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 letter ...
.
* It lost territories on 14 August 1832 to establish the
Apostolic Vicariate of Montevideo (now Metropolitan) and again on 13 June 1859 to establish the
Diocese of Paraná (now Metropolitan)
* Elevated on 5 March 1866 to Metropolitan Archdiocese of Buenos Aires.
* Lost territories again in 1884 to establish the
Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Patagonia and on February 15, 1897 to establish the then
Diocese of La Plata, but gained (back) territories in 1904 from the suppressed above Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Patagonia and on 4 October 1916 from the suppressed
Apostolic Prefecture of Southern Patagonia
* On 20 April 1934 it lost territory to establish the
Diocese of Viedma
* It received Papal visits from
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
in June 1982 and April 1987.
Bishops
(all
Roman Rite)
Episcopal ordinaries
;''Bishops of Buenos Aires''
# Pedro Carranza Salinas,
O.Carm. (1620–1632)
#
Cristóbal de Aresti Martínez de Aguilar,
O.S.B. (1635–1641)
# Cristóbal de la Mancha y Velazco,
O.P. (1641–1673)
# Antonio de Azcona Imberto (1676–1700)
# Gabriel de Arregui,
O.F.M. (1712–1716), appointed
Bishop of Cuzco
# Pedro de Fajardo,
O.SS.T. (1713–1729)
#
Juan de Arregui
Juan de Arregui (June 24, 1656 – †1736) was a Spanish Franciscan priest native of America and became Roman Catholic Bishop of Buenos Aires in 1730.
de Arrgui was born on 24 June 1656 in Buenos Aires (then in Governorate of the Río de la Pla ...
, O.F.M. (1730–1736)
# José de Peralta Barrionuevo y Rocha Benavídez, O.P. (1738–1746), appointed
Bishop of La Paz
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of La Paz ( la, Archidioecesis Pacensis in Bolivia) is an archdiocese located in the city of La Paz in Bolivia.
# Cayetano Marcellano y Agramont (1749–1757), appointed
Bishop of Trujillo and later
Archbishop of La Plata
# José Antonio Basurco y Herrera (1757–1761)
# Manuel Antonio de la Torre (1762–1776)
# Sebastián Malvar y Pinto, O.F.M. (1777–1783), appointed
Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela
# Manuel Azamor y Ramírez (1785–1796)
# Pedro Inocencio Bejarano (1797–1801), appointed
Bishop of Sigüenza
# Benito Lué y Riega (1802–1812)
# Mariano Medrano y Cabrera (1829–1851)
;''Archbishops of Buenos Aires''
# Mariano José de Escalada Bustillo y Zeballos (1854–1870)
# Federico León Aneiros (1873–1894)
# Uladislao Castellano (1895–1900)
# Mariano Antonio Espinosa (1900–1923)
# José María Bottaro y Hers, O.F.M. (1926–1932)
# Cardinal
Santiago Copello (1932–1959), appointed
Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church
The Apostolic ChanceryCanon 260, ''Code of Canon Law'' of 1917, translated by Edward N. Peters, Ignatius Press, 2001. ( la, Cancellaria Apostolica; also known as the "Papal" or "Roman Chanc(ell)ery") was a dicastery of the Roman Curia at the ser ...
#
Fermín Emilio Lafitte (1959)
# Cardinal
Antonio Caggiano (1959–1975)
# Cardinal
Juan Carlos Aramburu (1975–1990)
# Cardinal
Antonio Quarracino
Antonio Quarracino (8 August 1923 – 28 February 1998) was a Cardinal of the Catholic Church of Argentina and the Archbishop of Buenos Aires between 1990 and 1998.
Biography Early life and priesthood
Quarracino was born in Pollica, Prov ...
(1990–1998)
# Cardinal
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J. (1998–2013), elected
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
# Cardinal
Mario Aurelio Poli (2013–present)
Coadjutor archbishops
*
Fermín Emilio Lafitte (1958–1959)
*
Juan Carlos Cardinal Aramburu (1967–1975); future Cardinal
*
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J. (1997–1998); future Cardinal and Pope Francis
Auxiliary Bishops of Buenos Aires
* Miguel Moises Araoz (1871–1883)
* Juan Agustín Boneo (1893–1898), appointed
Bishop of Santa Fe
* Juan Nepomuceno Terrero y Escalada (1898–1900), appointed
Bishop of La Plata
* Gregorio Ignazio Romero (1899–1915)
* Francisco Alberti (1917–1921), appointed
Bishop of La Plata and later Archbishop of La Plata
* Miguel de Andrea (1919–1960)
* Fortunado Devoto (1927–1941)
*
Santiago Luis Copello
Santiago Luis Copello (7 January 1880 – 9 February 1967) was an Argentine Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Buenos Aires from 1932 to 1959, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1935. Copello served as the first ...
(1928), appointed Archbishop here (Cardinal in 1935)
* Antonio Rocca (1936–1975)
* Tomás Juan Carlos Solari (1943–1948), appointed
Archbishop of La Plata
* Manuel Tato (1948–1961), appointed
Bishop of Santiago del Estero
* Manuel Menéndez (1956–1961), appointed
Bishop of San Martín
* Guillermo Bolatti (1957–1961), appointed
Bishop of Rosario and later Archbishop of Rosario
* Victorio Manuel Bonamín,
Salesians
, image = File:Stemma big.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
, abbreviation = SDB
, formation =
, founder = John Bosco
, founding_location = Valdocco, Turi ...
(S.D.B.) (1960–1975)
* Jorge Carlos Carreras (1962–1965), appointed
Bishop of San Rafael and later
Bishop of San Justo
* Oscar Félix Villena (1962–1970), appointed
Bishop of San Rafael and later
Auxiliary Bishop of Rosario
*
Ernesto Segura (1962–1972)
* Manuel Augusto Cárdenas (1962–1975)
* Horacio Alberto Bózzoli (1975–1978), appointed
Bishop of San Rafael and later
Archbishop of Tucumán
* Guillermo Leaden, S.D.B. (1975–1992)
*
Mario José Serra (1975–2002)
* José Manuel Lorenzo (1977–1983), appointed
Bishop of San Miguel
*
Arnaldo Clemente Canale (1977–1990)
* Domingo Salvador Castagna (1978–1984), appointed
Bishop of San Nicolás de los Arroyos and later
Archbishop of Corrientes
*
Luis Héctor Villalba (1984–1991), appointed
Bishop of San Martín and later
Archbishop of Tucumán (elevated to
Cardinal in 2015)
*
Eduardo Mirás (1984–1993), appointed
Archbishop of Rosario
* Rubén Oscar Frassia (1992–1993), appointed
Bishop of San Carlos de Bariloche and later
Bishop of Avellaneda
*
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J. (1992–1997), appointed Coadjutor here; future Cardinal and Pope Francis
* Héctor Rubén Aguer (1992–1998), appointed
Coadjutor Archbishop of La Plata and later Archbishop of La Plata
*
Raúl Omar Rossi (1992–2000), appointed
Bishop of San Martín
* José Luis Mollaghan (1993–2000), appointed
Bishop of San Miguel and later
Archbishop of Rosario
*
Guillermo Rodríguez Melgarejo
Guillermo Rodríguez Melgarejo (20 May 1943 – 4 January 2021) was an Argentine Roman Catholic bishop.
Melgarejo was born in Argentina and was ordained to the priesthood in 1970. He served as titular bishop of ''Ucres'' and as auxiliary bish ...
(1994–2003), appointed
Bishop of San Martín
*
Horacio Ernesto Benites Astoul
Horacio Ernesto Benites Astoul (November 3, 1933 – May 25, 2016) was a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires from 1999 until 2008. He died on the May Revolution day of 2016 in Buenos Aires.
Life
...
(1999–2008)
* Jorge Eduardo Lozano (2000–2005), appointed
Bishop of Gualeguaychú and later Coadjutor Archbishop and
Archbishop of San Juan de Cuyo
* Joaquín Mariano Sucunza (2000–present)
*
José Antonio Gentico José Antonio Gentico (November 28, 1931 - April 5, 2007) was a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires from 2001 until his death in 2007.
Life
Born in Arnedo, Spain, Gentico was ordained to the pries ...
(2001–2007)
* Eduardo Horacio García (2003–2014), appointed
Bishop of San Justo
*
Raúl Martín (2006–2013)
* Óscar Vicente Ojea (2006–2009), appointed Coadjutor and later
Bishop of San Isidro
* Enrique Eguía Seguí (2008–present)
*
Luis Alberto Fernández Alara (2009–2013), appointed
Bishop of Rafaela
* Vicente Bokalic Iglic,
C.M. (2010–2013), appointed
Bishop of Santiago del Estero
* Alejandro Daniel Giorgi (2014–present)
* Ernesto Giobando, S.J. (2014–present)
* Juan Carlos Ares (2014–present)
* José María Baliña (2015–present)
* Gustavo Oscar Carrara (2017–present)
Other priests of this diocese who became bishops
*
Nicolás Fasolino, appointed Bishop of Santa Fe in 1932; future Cardinal
*
Emilio Antonio di Pasquo, appointed Bishop of San Luis in 1946
*
Antonio María Aguirre, appointed Bishop of San Isidro in 1957
*
Alberto Devoto, appointed Bishop of Goya in 1961
*
Vicente Faustino Zazpe, appointed Bishop of Rafaela in 1961
*
Carlos Horacio Ponce de Léon, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Salta in 1962
*
Luis Juan Tomé, appointed Bishop of Mercedes in 1963
*
Carmelo Juan Giaquinta, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Viedma in 1980
*
Jorge María Mejía, appointed titular Bishop in 1986; future Cardinal
*
Leonardo Sandri, appointed titular Archbishop in 1997; future Cardinal
*
Fernando Carlos Maletti
Fernando Carlos Maletti (17 March 1949 – 8 March 2022) was an Argentine prelate of the Catholic Church in Argentina. He served as bishop of San Carlos de Bariloche from 2001 until 2013 and as the bishop of Merlo-Moreno from 2013 until his ...
, appointed Bishop of San Carlos de Bariloche in 2001
*
Antonio Marino
Antonio Marino (born 9 August 1988) is an Italian footballer who plays as a defender for club Latina.
Career
Marino started his career with amateur Eccellenza club Folgore Selinunte from Castelvetrano, until he was noticed by Udinese scout ...
, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of La Plata in 2003
*
Eduardo Maria Taussig, appointed Bishop of San Rafael in 2004
*
César Daniel Fernández, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Paraná in 2007
*
Luis Mariano Montemayor, appointed titular Archbishop in 2008
*
Ariel Edgardo Torrado Mosconi, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Santiago del Estero in 2008
*
Alfredo Horacio Zecca
Alfredo Horacio Zecca (27 September 1949 – 4 November 2022) was an Argentine prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of Tucumán from 2011 to 2017, when he resigned for health reasons.
Life
Zecca was born in Buenos Ai ...
, appointed Archbishop of Tucumán in 2011
*
Fernando Martín Croxatto (priest here, 1986-2000), appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Comodoro Rivadavia in 2014
*
Han Lim Moon
Han may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group.
** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of San Martín in 2014
*
Jorge Martín Torres Carbonell
Jorge is a Spanish and Portuguese given name. It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος (''Georgios'') via Latin ''Georgius''; the former is derived from (''georgos''), meaning "farmer" or "earth-worker".
The Latin form ''Georgius'' ...
, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Lomas de Zamora in 2014
*
Alejandro Pablo Benna, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Comodoro Rivadavia in 2017
*
Luis Dario Martín
Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...
, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Santa Rosa in 2019
*
Ignacio Damián Medina, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Lomas de Zamora in 2019
See also
*
Catholicism in Argentina
, native_name_lang = pt
, image = Facade_BA_Metropolitan_Church.jpg
, imagewidth = 230px
, alt =
, caption = Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral
, abbreviation =
, type ...
*
List of Catholic dioceses in Argentina
References
Sources and external links
GCatholic, with Google map & satellite photo - data for all sections*
Arzobispado de Buenos Aires— Website of the Archdiocese.
*
— Statistics on the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buenos Aires, Roman Catholic Archdiocese
Roman Catholic dioceses in Argentina
Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Buenos Aires
Christianity in Buenos Aires
Religious organizations established in 1620
Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 17th century