The Archdiocese of Acapulco () is a

Latin rite Latin Rite may refer to: *The Latin Church, a ''sui iuris'' church of the Catholic Church *The Latin liturgical rites, a family of Christian rites and uses which includes the Roman Rite *The Roman Rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritua ...

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

Archdiocese In 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 provinces were administratively associated ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

's southwestern

Guerrero Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that compose the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guerrero, 85 municipalities. The stat ...

state. 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 ...

archiepiscopal see is Catedral Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, dedicated to

Our Lady of Solitude Our Lady of Solitude (; ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus and a special form of Marian devotion practised in Spanish-speaking countries to commemorate the solitude of Mary on Holy Saturday. Variant names include ''Nuestra Señora de la Sol ...

, in the touristic port city of

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...

. It is currently led by Archbishop

Leopoldo González González Leopoldo González González (born October 31, 1950) is the current archbishop of Acapulco, Mexico. González was born on October 31, 1950, in Abasolo, Guanajuato, Mexico. He attended primary school in Abasolo. On January 1, 1964, shortly befor ...

History

The Diocese of Acapulco / Acapulcan(us) (Latin) was erected on 18 March 1958, on territory split off from the then

Diocese of Chilapa The Roman Catholic Diocese of Chilpancingo–Chilapa () is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Acapulco. History The former Diocese of Chilapa in southern Mexico comprised the State of Guerrero. It was a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mex ...

(now its suffragan as Diocese of Chilpancingo–Chilapa.) It lost territory to establish

Diocese of Ciudad Altamirano The Roman Catholic Diocese of Ciudad Altamirano () is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Acapulco, in Mexico. Ordinaries * Juan Navarro Ramirez (1965–1970) *Manuel Samaniego Barriga (1971–1979), appointed Bishop of Cuautitlá ...

(now its

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 ...

) on 27 October 1964. It was elevated on 10 February 1983 to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Acapulco.

Statistics

As of 2014, the archdiocese pastorally served 2,039,000 Catholics (76.9% of 2,650,000 total) on 18,000 km² in 78 parishes and 4 missions with 132 priests (107 diocesan, 25 religious), 19 deacons, 152 lay religious (30 brothers, 122 sisters) and 33 seminarians.

Bishops

(all

Roman Rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs Rite (Christianity) ...

native Mexicans)

Episcopal Ordinaries

;''Suffragan Bishops of Acapulco'' * José del Pilar Quezada Valdez (1958.12.18 – retired 1976.06.01), died 1985 * Rafael Bello Ruiz (1976.06.01 – 1983.02.10 ''see below''), succeeding as previous

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 Segia (1974.02.12 – 1976.06.01) and

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. ...

of Acapulco (1974.02.12 – 1976.06.01) ;''Metropolitan Archbishops of Acapulco'' * Rafael Bello Ruiz (''see above'' 1983.02.10 – retired 2001.05.08), died 2008 * Felipe Aguirre Franco (2001.05.08 – retired 2010.06.07), previously

Otricoli Otricoli is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Terni, Umbria, central Italy. It is located on the Via Flaminia, near the east bank of the Tiber, some 70 km north of Rome and 20 km south of Narni. It was originally the ancient Umbri ...

(1974.03.12 – 1988.04.28) as

Tuxtla Gutiérrez Tuxtla Gutiérrez, or Tuxtla, (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Mexico, Mexican southeastern state of Chiapas. It is the seat of the municipality of the same name, which is the most developed and populous in the state. A busy govern ...

(Mexico) (1974.03.12 – 1988.04.28), succeeding as Bishop of Tuxtla Gutiérrez (1988.04.28 – 2000.06.30),

Coadjutor Archbishop The term "coadjutor" (literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadjutor bishop ...

of Acapulco (2000.06.30 – succession 2001.05.08) **

: Juan Navarro Castellanos (2004.01.31 – 2009.02.12), Titular Bishop of

Caput Cilla Caput Cilla, an Ancient city and former bishopric in Roman North Africa, is now a Latin Catholic titular see. Its presumed location are the ruins of El-Gouéa, in modern Algeria. History Caput Cilla was important enough in the Roman province of ...

(2004.01.31 – 2009.02.12); next Bishop of

Tuxpan Tuxpan (or Túxpam, fully Túxpam de Rodríguez Cano, for Enrique Rodríguez Cano) is both a municipality and city located in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The population of the city was 89,557 and of the municipality was 154,600 inhabitants, ...

(Mexico) (2009.02.12 – ...) * Carlos Garfias Merlos (2010.06.07 – retired 2016.11.05), previously Bishop of Ciudad Altamirano (Mexico) (1996.06.24 – 2003.07.08), Bishop of Nezahualcóyotl (Mexico) (2003.07.08 – 2010.06.07); next Metropolitan Archbishop of

Morelia Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid; Otomi language, Otomi: ) is a city and municipal seat of the municipalities of Mexico, municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. It is both th ...

(Mexico) (2016.11.05 – ...) *

(2017.06.30 – ...), previously Titular Bishop of Voncaria (1999.03.18 – 2005.06.09) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Morelia (Mexico) (1999.03.18 – 2005.06.09), Bishop of

Tapachula Tapachula de Córdova y Ordóñez, simply known as Tapachula, is a city and municipality located in the far southeast of the state of Chiapas, Mexico, near the Guatemalan border and the Pacific Ocean. Economically, it is one of the most importan ...

(Mexico) (2005.06.09 – 2017.06.30).

Coadjutor bishop

* Felipe Aguirre Franco (2000–2001)

Auxiliary bishops

* Rafael Bello Ruiz (1974–1976), appointed Bishop here *

Juan Navarro Castellanos ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philippi ...

(2004–2009), appointed Bishop of Tuxpan, Veracruz

Ecclesiastical province

The Metropolitan's

sees are: *

Roman Catholic Diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa The Roman Catholic Diocese of Chilpancingo–Chilapa () is a suffragan diocese of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Acapulco, Archdiocese of Acapulco. History The former Diocese of Chilapa in southern Mexico comprised the State of Guerrero. It wa ...

, its mother (then as Diocese of Chilapa) *

, its daughter * Roman Catholic Diocese of Tlapa.

Sources

GCatholic - data for all sections

retrieved July 14, 2006 Roman Catholic dioceses in Mexico * Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century Roman Catholic ecclesiastical provinces in Mexico Acapulco Religious organizations established in 1958 1958 establishments in Mexico {{Mexico-RC-diocese-stub