The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calabozo () is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

archdiocese in

Calabozo Calabozo, officially Villa de Todos los Santos de Calabozo, is a city in Venezuela located in Guárico state, capital of the Francisco de Miranda Municipality and former capital of the state. It has a population of 168,605, according to the Nat ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. It was a

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 ...

until 1995.

History

The original diocese of Calabozo, embracing the section of Guárico and portions of the sections of Apure, Zamora, Portuguesa, Cojedes and Guzman Blanco, was created 7 March 1863 by

Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

as a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

of the

Archdiocese of Caracas The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Caracas is an ecclesiastical territory of the Roman Catholic Church in Venezuela. It was founded as the Diocese of Caracas on June 20, 1637, and was later elevated to the rank of a metropolitan see ...

( Santiago de Venezuela), and its first bishop was consecrated 30 October 1881.

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 the diocese to an archdiocese on 17 June 1995. As a metropolitan archdiocese, it has 2 suffragans: *

San Fernando de Apure San Fernando de Apure () is a city in Apure State in Venezuela. The population of the municipality area is 165,135 (2011 census). The 18th century exports included heron feathers (for pens) and animal hides. The “Maria Nieves” bridge across ...

Valle de la Pascua Valle de la Pascua is the capital city of the autonomous municipality of Leonardo Infante, Guárico, Venezuela . The city is located in the central plains of Venezuela and was founded on February 25, 1785, by Father Mariano Martí. Along with Z ...

Bishops

Ordinaries

*Salustiano Crespo † (4 Aug 1881 – 12 Jul 1888) *Felipe Neri Sendra (Sendrea) † (25 Sep 1891 – 9 May 1921) *Arturo Celestino Álvarez † (9 May 1921 – 8 Jan 1952) *Antonio Ignacio Camargo † (8 Jan 1952 – 2 Sep 1957) Appointed, Bishop of Trujillo *Domingo Roa Pérez † (3 Oct 1957 – 16 Jan 1961) Appointed, Bishop of

Maracaibo Maracaibo ( , ; ) is a city and municipality in northwestern Venezuela, on the western shore of the strait that connects Lake Maracaibo to the Gulf of Venezuela. It is the largest city in Venezuela and is List of cities in Venezuela by population ...

* Miguel Antonio Salas Salas, C.I.M. † (16 Jan 1961 – 20 Aug 1979) Appointed, Archbishop of Mérida * Helímenas de Jesús Rojo Paredes, C.I.M. (24 Mar 1980 – 27 Dec 2001) *

Antonio José López Castillo Antonio José López Castillo (July 9, 1945 – July 18, 2021) was a Venezuelan Roman Catholic priest and prelate. He served as auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Maracaibo from 1988 to 1992 and the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Dioce ...

(27 Dec 2001 – 22 Dec 2007) Appointed, Archbishop of

Barquisimeto Barquisimeto (; ) is a city in Venezuela. Barquisimeto is located in the Central-Western Region, Venezuela. It is the capital of the state of Lara (state), Lara and head of Iribarren Municipality. It is an important urban, industrial, commercial a ...

Manuel Felipe Díaz Sánchez Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name), a given name and surname * Manuel (''Fawlty Towers''), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Manuel I of Portugal, king of Po ...

(10 Dec 2008 – present)

Coadjutor bishops

Arturo Celestino Álvarez Arturo is a Spanish and Italian variant of the name Arthur. People *Arturo Alessandri (1868–1950), Chilean politician and president *Arturo Álvarez (footballer, born 1985), American-born Salvadoran footballer * Arturo Álvarez (footballer, born ...

† (1919-1921) * Antonio Ignacio Camargo † (1949-1952)

Auxiliary bishops

* Antonio Ignacio Camargo † (1947-1949), appointed Coadjutor here * Víctor Manuel Pérez Rojas † (1998-2001), appointed Bishop of San Fernando de Apure

References