The Diocese of Escuintla is a

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ecclesiastical territory or

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

of the

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Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

. It is a

suffragan diocese A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandr ...

in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Guatemala. The Diocese of Escuintla was erected on 28 July 1994 from a territorial prelature. Its

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

is ''Catedral Nuestra Señora de Concepción'', in the

episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...

Escuintla Escuintla () is an industrial city in Guatemala, its land extension is 4,384 km2, and it is nationally known for its sugar agribusiness. Its capital is a municipality with the same name. Citizens celebrate from December 6 to 9 with a small f ...

History

It was established on 1969.05.09 as a

Territorial Prelature A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

of Escuintla on territory split off from the Archdiocese of Guatemala, which remains its metropolitan. On 28 July 1994 it was promoted to diocese.

Bishops

Episcopal ordinaries

; ''Territorial Prelates of Escuintla'' * José Julio Aguilar García (1969.05.09 – 1972.11.02),

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Bononia (1970.12.05 – 1972.11.02), later Bishop of

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(Bolivia) (1972.11.02 – 1974.08.22) * Mario Enrique Ríos Montt,

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(C.M.) (1974.07.13 – 1984.03.03), Titular Bishop of Tiguala (1974.07.13 – ...); later

Auxiliary Bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

(Guatemala) (1987.01.24 – 2010.10.02) and

Apostolic Administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of Izabal (Guatemala) (2011.07.26 – 2013.02.09) * Fernando Claudio Gamalero González (1986.03.13 – 1994.07.28 ''see below'') ; ''Suffragan Bishops of Escuintla'' * Fernando Claudio Gamalero González ('' see above'' 1994.07.28 – death 2004.04.03) * Victor Hugo Palma Paúl (2004.04.03 – ), succeeded as previous

Coadjutor Bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

of Escuintla (2001.07.14 – 2004.04.03)

Coadjutor bishop

* Victor Hugo Palma Paúl (2001-2004)

Sources, External links and references

with incumbent biography links
*

Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Santiago de Guatemala {{RC-diocese-stub