The Apostolic Vicariate (or Vicariate Apostolic) of San Miguel de Sucumbíos () is a missionary entity of the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. Its cathedral see, the Catedral Nuestra Señora del Cisne, is located in the city of
Nueva Loja
Nueva Loja (), also known as ''Lago Agrio'', is the capital of the province of Sucumbíos in Ecuador. It was founded in the 1960s as a base camp of Texaco. The official population as of the 2022 census is 55,627.
Overview
Nueva Loja is located i ...
,
Sucumbíos Province
Sucumbíos () is a province in northeast Ecuador. The capital and largest city is Nueva Loja (normally referred to as Lago Agrio). It is the fifth largest province in the country, with an area of 18,084 km2. In 2010, it had a population o ...
in
Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
.
History
On 16 April 1924
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...
established the
Prefecture Apostolic
An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...
of San Miguel de Sucumbíos from the
Apostolic Vicariate of Napo.
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005.
In his you ...
elevated it to an
Apostolic Vicariate
An apostolic vicariate is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church under a titular bishop centered in missionary regions and countries where dioceses or parishes have not yet been established. The status of apostolic vicariate is often ...
on 2 July 1984.
It remains exempt, i.e. directly subject to the Holy See, not part of an ecclesiastical province.
Nomination conflict with the Ecuadorian state
In October 2010, after López Marañon of the
Discalced Carmelites
The Discalced Carmelites, known officially as the Order of the Discalced Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel () or the Order of Discalced Carmelites (; abbreviation, abbrev.: OCD; sometimes called in earlier times, ), is a Catho ...
retired at the mandatory age of 75, the
Holy See
The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...
appointed
Rafael Ibarguren, of the
Heralds of the Gospel
The Heralds of the Gospel (; , abbreviated to E.P.) is a Catholic International Association of Pontifical Pontifical Right founded by Monsignor João Scognamiglio Clá Dias. It is active in 78 countries.
History
The Heralds were recognized as ...
as
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 ...
(''ad interim'' for the Ordinary) of the Vicariate Apostolic. Ecuadorian President
Rafael Correa
Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado (; born 6 April 1963) is an Ecuadorian politician and economist who served as the 45th president of Ecuador from 2007 to 2017. The leader of the PAIS Alliance political movement from its foundation until 2017, Corr ...
objected to the nomination as he considered Ibarguren 'ultraconservative and fundamentalist', he also feared that Ibarguren would destroy all the social work his predecessor had achieved.
Correa asserted that he could veto the nomination of Ibarguren on the basis of a ''
Modus vivendi
''Modus vivendi'' (plural ''modi vivendi'') is a Latin phrase that means "mode of living" or " way of life". In international relations, it often is used to mean an arrangement or agreement that allows conflicting parties to coexist in peace. In ...
'' agreement between Ecuador and the
Holy See
The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...
. The
Episcopal Conference of Ecuador asserted otherwise. Relations between the two entities were strained and believers within Sucumbíos were divided in those supporting the Heralds of the Gospel and those who did not.
[
On 5 December 2011, ]Pope Benedict XVI
Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...
named Paolo Mietto Apolostic Administrator.
Incumbent Ordinaries
;Apostolic prefects (all OCD
*Pacifico del Carmine, OCD † (21 May 1937 – 1954)
*Manuel Gomez Frande, OCD † (18 November 1955 – 1968)
* Gonzalo López Marañon, OCD † (26 June 1970 – ''see below)
;Apostolic vicars
* Gonzalo López Marañon, OCD † (''see above'' – 30 October 2010)
*''Apostolic Administrator'' Rafael Ibarguren Schindler (30 October 2010 – 10 February 2012)
*''Apostolic Administrator'' Paolo Mietto, CSI (10 February 2012 – 21 November 2013)
* Celmo Lazzari, CSI (21 November 2013 – incumbent)
See also
* Roman Catholicism in Ecuador
The Catholic Church in Ecuador comprises only a Latin hierarchy, united in a national episcopal conference, which comprises:
* Four ecclesiastical provinces, each province is headed by the Metropolitanan archbishop of an archdiocese, and a total o ...
Sources and References
Roman Catholic dioceses in Ecuador
Christian organizations established in 1924
{{Ecuador-RC-diocese-stub