Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico


The Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico is a diocese of the Catholic Church comprising the northeast portion of the island of Puerto Rico.
WWW arqsj.org

Ecclesiastical Province of San Juan

The jurisdiction of the Ecclesiastical Province of San Juan covers the Archdiocese of San Juan, which is the metropolitan see of the following suffragan dioceses:

History

On November 15, 1504, Pope Julius II issued the papal bull Illius fulciti, which erected the first ecclesiastical province in the New World. It established the Archdiocese of Hyaguata, the Diocese of Magua, and the Diocese of Bayuna. As all the dioceses were located on the island of Hispañiola, the Spanish Crown requested that the Diocese of Bayuna be transferred to Puerto Rico. The Bull never went into effect due to the objection of Ferdinand II of Aragon who opposed that the bull gave the dioceses the right to receive a portion of the earnings from the gold and precious stones discovered in the territory.
On August 8, 1511, Julius II issued the new papal bull Pontifax Romanus, which extinguished the previously granted ecclesiastical province and its dioceses and reassigned their delegated bishops:
The See of San Juan de Puerto Rico was canonically erected on August 8, 1511, as the Diocese of Puerto Rico on the island of San Juan, as it was then called. Due to the switch of names between the island and the capital its name was changed on November 21, 1924, to the Diocese of San Juan in Puerto Rico. With the creation of the Diocese of Arecibo on April 30, 1960, San Juan was raised to the status of an archdiocese, with the new archbishop leading a metropolitan province comprising all the dioceses on the island as suffragan dioceses.
The Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico is the metropolitan see for the suffragan dioceses of Caguas, Fajardo–Humacao, Ponce, Mayagüez and Arecibo.
The current archbishop is Roberto González Nieves, O.F.M.
On August 29, 2018, the archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. On September 27, 2018, federal Judge Edward Godoy protected all assets of the archdiocese and its suffragan dioceses under Chapter 11, protecting them from seizures by individual creditors, for example, as payments to retired teachers.

Bishops

The lists of bishops, archbishops and auxiliary bishops and their terms of service:

Bishops of Puerto Rico

  1. Alonso Manso
  2. Rodrigo de Bastidas y Rodriguez de Romera
  3. Francisco Andrés de Carvajal, O.F.M.
  4. Manuel de Mercado Aldrete, O.S.H.
  5. Diego de Salamanca Polanco, O.S.A.
  6. Nicolás de Ramos y Santos, O.F.M.
  7. Antonio Calderón de León
  8. Martín Vasquez de Arce, O.P.
  9. Francisco Diaz de Cabrera y Córdoba, O.P.
  10. Pedro de Solier y Vargas, O.S.A.
  11. Bernardo de Valbuena y Villanueva
  12. Juan López de Agurto de la Mata
  13. Juan Alonso de Solis y Mendoza, O. Carm.
  14. Damián Lopez de Haro y Villarda, O.SS.T.
  15. Hernando de Lobo Castrillo, O. Carm.
  16. Francisco Naranjo, O.P.
  17. Juan Francisco Arnaldo Isasi
  18. Benito de Rivas, O.S.B.
  19. Bartolomé Garcia de Escañuela, O.F.M.
  20. Juan de Santiago y León Garabito
  21. Marcos de Sobremonte
  22. Juan Francisco de Padilla y San Martín, O. de M.
  23. Jerónimo Nosti de Valdés, O.S.Bas.
  24. Pedro de la Concepcion y Urtiaga, O.F.M.
  25. Raimundo Caballero, O.S.B.
  26. Fernando de Valdivia y Mendoza, O.A.R.
  27. Sebastián Lorenzo Pizarro, O.S.Bas.
  28. Francisco Pérez Lozano, O.S.Bas.
  29. Francisco Placido de Béjar, O.S.Bas.
  30. Francisco Julián Antolino
  31. Pedro Martínez de Oneca
  32. Mariano Martí
  33. Manuel Jiménez Pérez, O.S.B.
  34. Felipe José de Tres-Palacios y Verdeja
  35. Francisco de Cuerda
  36. Juan Bautista de Zengotita y Bengoa, O. de M.
  37. Juan Alejo de Arizmendi de La Torre
  38. Mariano Rodríguez de Olmedo y Valle
  39. Pedro Gutiérrez de Cos y Saavedra Seminario
  40. Francisco Fleix y Soláns
  41. Francisco de La Puente, O.P.
  42. Gil Estévez y Tomás
  43. Vicente Benigno Carrión, O.F.M. Cap.
  44. Juan Antonio Puig y Montserrat, O.F.M.
  45. Toribio Minguella y Arnedo, O.A.R.
  46. Francisco Javier Valdés y Noriega, O.S.A.
  47. James Herbert Blenk, S.M.
  48. William Ambrose Jones, O.S.A.
  49. George Joseph Caruana, title changed with name of diocese

Bishops of San Juan de Puerto Rico

  1. George Joseph Caruana, appointed, Apostolic Delegate to México
  2. Edwin Vincent Byrne, appointed Archbishop of Santa Fe
  3. James Peter Davis, elevated to archbishop

Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico

  1. James Peter Davis, appointed Archbishop of Santa Fe
  2. Luis Aponte Martínez
  3. Roberto González Nieves, O.F.M.

Auxiliary bishops

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

High schools

Bankruptcy

On January 11, 2018, Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of San Juan filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, stating that the current pension plan was unworkable and applied for a new plan which has an estimated $10 million in assets and $10 million in liabilities. On March 27, 2018, local Judge Anthony Cuevas issued an embargo against the Archdiocese of San Juan which would remain in effect until they could find $4.7 million to pay for teachers pension. It was also ruled that the Catholic Church in Puerto Rico was a single entity and that the embargo would also apply to all the suffragan dioceses of the Archdiocese of San Juan. On August 29, 2018, the Archdiocese of San Juan filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, noting that they were unable find the $4.7 million. On September 7, 2018, US Bankruptcy Judge Edward Godoy protected the Archdiocese of San Juan under Chapter 11, avoiding seizure of assets and payment of pensions to their retired teachers. The bankruptcy will also apply to other Dioceses in Puerto Rico as well.