The Roman Catholic Diocese of Machala () is 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 ...

located in the city of

Machala Machala () is a city in south-west Ecuador. It is the capital of the El Oro Province, and is located near the Gulf of Guayaquil on fertility (soil), fertile lowlands. Machala has a population of 288,072 (2022 census); it is the sixth-biggest city ...

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 ...

Cuenca Cuenca may refer to: People * Cuenca (surname) Places Ecuador * Cuenca Canton, in the Azuay Province ** Cuenca, Ecuador, capital of Cuenca Canton and Azuay Province ** Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cuenca Peru * Cuenca District, Huarochirí ...

in Ecuador. Established on July 26, 1954, as the Territorial Prelature of El Oro from territory of the Dioceses of Guayaquil and Cuenca, it was elevated as the Diocese of Machala on January 31, 1969.

Bishops

Ordinaries

Prelates of the Roman Catholic Territorial Prelature of El Oro *Bishop Silvio Luis Haro Alvear (1954 – 23 Mar 1955);

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 ...

; previously,

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 the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guayaquil The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Guayaquil () is an archdiocese located in the city of Guayaquil in Ecuador. Special churches *Minor Basilica: Basílica de Nuestra Señora de La Merced in Guayaquil Leadership ;Bishops of Guayaqui ...

and

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 Antaeopolis; subsequently, Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Ibarra The Roman Catholic Diocese of Ibarra () is a diocese located in the city of Ibarra in the ecclesiastical province of Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with a ...

*Father Vicente Felicísimo Maya Guzmán (1956 – 29 Nov 1963); Apostolic Administrator; subsequently Bishop-Prelate of El Oro, and then first Bishop of Machala *Bishop-Prelate Vicente Felicísimo Maya Guzmán (29 Nov 1963 – 31 Jan 1969); Titular Bishop of

Comana pontica Comana Pontica (), was an ancient city located in ancient Pontus, on the river Iris, at modern near Tokat in Turkey. History Comana Pontica was located in the region of Pontus (now part of modern Turkey). It was located in 2009 by the use of ...

; previously, Apostolic Administrator of El Oro; subsequently, first Bishop of Machala Bishops of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Machala *Bishop Vicente Felicísimo Maya Guzmán (31 Jan 1969 – 30 Jan 1978); previously, Apostolic Administrator and then Bishop-Prelate of El Oro *Bishop Antonio José González Zumárraga (30 Jan 1978 – 28 Jun 1980); previously, Auxiliary Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quito The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Quito is the Catholic archdiocese in the capital city of Ecuador, Quito. It was established as the Diocese of Quito on 8 January 1545, before being elevated to archdiocese level on January 13, 1848 b ...

and Titular Bishop of

Tagarata Tagarata was a Roman era civitas of the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis. The ancient city has been tentatively identified with ruins at Bir-El-Djedidi, Tunisia. The ancient city was also the seat of an ancient Christian bishopric, suffragan ...

; subsequently, Coadjutor Archbishop and then

Metropolitan Archbishop 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 ...

of Quito, then Cardinal-Priest of Chiesa di Santa Maria in Via,

Rome, Italy Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, and President of the

Episcopal Conference of Ecuador Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

*Father

Jesús Ramón Martínez de Ezquerecocha Suso Jesús Ramón Martínez de Ezquerecocha Suso (31 August 1935 − 16 February 2013) was a Spanish-born Ecuadorian Roman Catholic bishop. Born in Spain and ordained to the priesthood on 9 August 1959, Martínez de Ezquerecocha Suso was named bishop ...

(1980 – 14 Jan 1982); Apostolic Administrator; subsequently, Bishop-Prelate of the Roman Catholic Territorial Prelature of Los Ríos and then Bishop there (

Roman Catholic Diocese of Babahoyo The Roman Catholic Diocese of Babahoyo () is a diocese located in the city of Babahoyo in the ecclesiastical province of Guayaquil in Ecuador. Ordinaries Apostolic Administrator * Adolfo Maria Astudillo Morales (13 Aug 1948 – 1957), never con ...

) *Bishop Néstor Rafael Herrera Heredia (14 Jan 1982 – 22 Feb 2010); served as President of the Episcopal Conference of Ecuador *Bishop

Luis Antonio Sánchez Armijos 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 ...

, S.D.B. (22 Feb 2010 – 22 Oct 2012); previously, Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulcán The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulcán () is a diocese located in the city of Tulcán in the ecclesiastical province of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quito, Quito in Ecuador. Ordinaries *Luis Clemente de la Vega Rodriguez (17 Mar 1965 – 4 May 1 ...

*Bishop Ángel Polivio Sánchez Loaiza (20 Jul 2013 – 27 Sep 2022); previously, Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Guaranda 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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

*Bishop Vicente Horacio Saeteros Sierra (27 Sep 2022 – ...)

Auxiliary bishop

Hermenegildo José Torres Asanza Saint Hermenegild or Ermengild (died 13 April 585; ; , from Gothic ''𐌹𐍂𐌼𐌿𐌽𐌰𐌲𐌹𐌻𐌳𐍃 *Airmana-gild'', "immense tribute"), was the son of King Liuvigild of the Visigothic Kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula and southern ...

(2007-2018), appointed Bishop of Guaranda

Special churches

*Cathedral: Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Merced,

*Minor Basilica: Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Natividad de Chilla, Chilla

External links

GCatholic.org

Roman Catholic dioceses in Ecuador Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Cuenca Christian organizations established in 1954 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century Machala 1954 establishments in Ecuador {{SouthAm-RC-diocese-stub