Roman Catholic Diocese of Valparaíso

Diocese of Valparaíso

*Dioecesis Vallis Paradisi*

Diócesis de Valparaíso
Diocese of Valparaíso; Dioecesis Vallis Paradisi; Diócesis de Valparaíso
	Cathedral of St. James
Location
Country	Chile
Ecclesiastical province	Santiago de Chile
Metropolitan	Santiago de Chile
Statistics
Area	4,600 km2 (1,800 sq mi)
Population; - Total; - Catholics	(as of 2010); 1,259,000; 932,000 (74%)
Information
Rite	Latin Rite
Established	2 November 1872 (151 years ago)
Cathedral	Cathedral of St James in Valparaíso
Patron saint	Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Jorge Patricio Vega Velasco, S.V.D.
Metropolitan Archbishop	Celestino Aós Braco, OFM Cap
Bishops emeritus	Gonzalo Duarte García de Cortázar
Website
	www.obispadodevalparaiso.cl

The Diocese of Valparaíso (Latin: Vallis Paradisi) is a suffragan Latin diocese in the ecclesiastical province of Santiago de Chile in central Chile.

Its cathedral episcopal see, the Catedral de Santiago, dedicated to the Apostle St. James the Elder (Spanish: Santiago) in the city of Valparaíso, Valparaíso Province, is a Minor World Heritage Site.

Statistics edit

As per 2014, it pastorally served 966,000 Catholics (74.1% of 1,304,000 total) on 4,763 km² in 69 parishes and 260 missions with 171 priests (86 diocesan, 85 religious), 71 deacons, 406 lay religious (133 brothers, 273 sisters) and 16 seminarians.

History edit

Established on November 2, 1872 as Mission “sui iuris” of Valparaíso on territory split off from the Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile
Promoted on October 18, 1925 to Diocese of Valparaíso
Lost territory in 1981 to the Diocese of San Felipe
Gained territory in 2001 from the then Apostolic Vicariate of Araucanía (now Diocese of Villarrica).

Bishops edit

Bishops of Valparaíso edit

Eduardo Gimpert Paut (1925–1937)
Rafael Lira Infante, (1938–1958)
Raúl Silva Henríquez, O.S.B. (1959–1961), appointed Archbishop of Santiago de Chile (Cardinal in 1962)
Emilio Tagle Covarrubias (1961–1983), Archbishop (personal title)
Francisco de Borja Valenzuela Ríos (1983–1993), Archbishop (personal title)
Jorge Arturo Medina Estévez (1993–1996), appointed Pro-Prefect, and later Prefect, of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (elevated to Cardinal in 1998)
Francisco Javier Errázuriz Ossa, I.Sch. (1996–1998), Archbishop (personal title); appointed Archbishop of Santiago de Chile (Cardinal in 2001)
Gonzalo Duarte García de Cortázar, SS.CC. (1998–2018)
Jorge Patricio Vega Velasco, S.V.D. (2021–present)

Auxiliary bishops edit

Francisco Javier Prado Aránguiz, SS.CC. (1988–1993), appointed Bishop of Rancagua
Juan de la Cruz Barros Madrid (1995–2000), appointed Bishop of Iquique
Santiago Jaime Silva Retamales (2002–2015), appointed Bishop of Chile, Militar

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops edit

Mariano Jaime Casanova Casanova (Vicar General here, 1872–1885), appointed Archbishop of Santiago de Chile in 1886
Salvador Donos Rodríguez (Vicar General here, 1885–1892), never consecrated bishop
Manuel Tomás Mesa (Vicar General here, 1892, did not take effect?)
Ramón Ángel Jara Ruz (Vicar General here, 1894–1898), appointed Bishop of San Carlos de Ancud
José Manuel Santos Ascarza, appointed Bishop of Valdivia in 1955
Francisco Javier Gillmore Stock, appointed Vicar Apostolic of Chile, Military in 1959; consecrated bishop in 1962
Sergio Otoniel Contreras Navia, appointed Bishop of San Carlos de Ancud in 1966
Carlos Marcio Camus Larenas, appointed Bishop of Copiapó in 1968
Gonzalo Arturo Bravo Álvarez, appointed Bishop of San Felipe in 2020

Sources and external links edit

This article on a Roman Catholic diocese in Chile is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.