Archdiocese of Barquisimeto
The Archdiocese of Barquisimeto is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the state of Lara, Venezuela. It is a metropolitan see.
History
- Established on 7 March 1863 as Diocese of Barquisimeto, on territory split off from the then Diocese of Mérida
- Suppressed on 14 August 1867, its territory reassigned to the new, short-lived Diocese of Coro y Barquisimeto
- Restored on 22 October 1869 as Diocese of Barquisimeto from that Diocese of Coro y Barquisimeto
- Lost territory on 12 October 1922 to establish the Diocese of Coro and on 7 June 1954 to establish the Diocese of Guanare, its own suffragan
- Promoted on 30 April 1966 as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Barquisimeto.
- Lost territory again to establish two more suffragans : on 7 October 1966 the Diocese of San Felipe and on 25 July 1992 the Diocese of Carora.
Special churches
Its cathedral episcopal see is the very modern Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Barquisimeto. There is also a Minor Basilica : Basílica el Santo Cristo de la Gracia, also in Barquisimeto.Bishops
Episcopal ordinaries
;Suffragan Bishops of Barquisimeto- Victor José Díez Navarrete, previously Bishop of [Roman Catholic Roman Catholic Diocese of Coro|Diocese of Coro y Barquisimeto|Coro y Barquisimeto]
- Gregorio Rodríguez y Obregón
- Aguedo Felipe Alvarado Liscano
- Enrique María Dubuc Moreno, previously Titular Bishop of Zaraï & Coadjutor Bishop of Barquisimeto
- Críspulo Benítez Fontúrvel
- Críspulo Benítez Fontúrvel, also President of Episcopal Conference of Venezuela
- Tulio Manuel Chirivella Varela
- Antonio José López Castillo ; previously Titular Bishop of Theuzi & Auxiliary Bishop of Maracaibo, Bishop of Barinas, Metropolitan Archbishop of Calabozo
Coadjutor bishop
- Enrique María Dubuc Moreno
Auxiliary bishops
- Marcial Augusto Ramírez Ponce, appointed Bishop of La Guaira
- Eduardo Herrera Riera, appointed Bishop of Carora
- José Luis Azuaje Ayala, appointed Bishop of El Vigia-San Carlos del Zulia
Other priest of this diocese who became bishop
- Manuel Felipe Díaz Sánchez, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Cumaná in 1997