Diocese of Cienfuegos
| Diocese of Cienfuegos Dioecesis Centumfocencis | |
|---|---|
| Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción
Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción
| |
| Location | |
| Country | Cuba |
| Ecclesiastical province | Camagüey |
| Metropolitan | Cienfuegos |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 5,360 km2 (2,070 sq mi) |
| Population Total Catholics |
(as of 2006) 485,000 293,600 (60.5%) |
| Parishes | 22 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | 20 February 1903 (123 years ago) |
| Cathedral | Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Leo XIV |
| Bishop | Domingo Oropesa Lorente |
| Map | |
The Diocese of Cienfuegos is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Camagüey. The original Diocese of Cienfuegos was erected in 1903 and renamed as the Diocese of Cienfuegos-Santa Clara in 1971. That diocese was split in 1995 to form the Dioceses of Cienfuegos and Santa Clara.
Bishops
Ordinaries
- Antonio Aurelio Torres y Sanz, OCD (1904 - 1916)
- Valentín Zubizarreta y Unamunsaga, OCD (1922 - 1925), appointed Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba
- Eduardo Pedro Martínez y Dalmau, CP (1935 - 1961)
- Alfredo Antonio Francisco Müller y San Martín (1961 - 1971)
- Fernando Ramon Prego Casal (1971 - 1995)
- Emilio Aranguren Echeverria (1995 - 2005)
- Domingo Oropesa Lorente (since 2007)
Auxiliary bishops
- Francisco Ricardo Oves Fernández (1969-1970), appointed Archbishop of San Cristobal de la Habana
- Fernando Ramon Prego Casal (1969-1970), appointed Bishop here
- Emilio Aranguren Echeverria (1991-1995), appointed Bishop here
Other priest of this diocese who became bishop
- Marcelo Arturo González Amador, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Santa Clara in 1998
External links and references
- "Diocese of Cienfuegos". Catholic-Hierarchy. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
22°08′46″N 80°27′07″W / 22.1461°N 80.4519°W
Canonical status and jurisdiction
Roman Catholic Diocese of Cienfuegos is a diocese of the catholic church of the Catholic Church.[1]
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Diocese of Cienfuegos, Diocese of (Centumfocensis), which includes all the Province of Santa Clara in the central part of Cuba, has an area of 9,500 square miles and (census of 1899) a population of 356,536; 317,243 native Cubans; 28,398 Spaniards 10,895 of other nationalities. The diocese, which had previously formed part of that of Havana, was erected by Archbishop Chapelle, of New Orleans, acting as Apostilic-Delgate, in virtue of the Brief "Actum praeclare" of Leo XIII (20 February, 1903), but was administered by the Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba until 31 May, 1904, when its first bishop, Fray Aureole-Torres y Sanz, O.C.D, took possession.
Missions were established in the cities of Trinidad and Sancti Spiritus, in this part of Cuba, during the sixteenth century, under Franciscans, who preached to the aborigines and continued to keep the spirit of religion alive among the colonists, until the expulsion of the religious orders by the Spanish Government in 1835. Numberless religious endowments witnesses to the piety of the inhabitants, especially during the eighteen century, when Catholic fervor reached its highest pitch; but by far the greater part of these were in time confiscated by the successive Spanish governors. On taking possession of his newly erected see, the first care of the Bishop of Cienfuegos was to introduce order into the ecclesiastical administration, which had suffered severely from the civil troubles between 1868 and 1895, many of the church building having been irreparably ruined.
Santa Clara is an essentially agricultural district. There are numerous sugar mills, and the province is well supplied with railroads. Most of the immigration is Spanish. Although, the vast majority of the inhabitants are Catholic, it is impossible to obtain contributions for the support of the religion from a populace whose faith and morals have been impaired by years of political turmoil. The Cubans, moreover, have for generations been accustomed to a Church supported by the State. On the other hand, while indifferentism and Freemasonry are rife, Protestantism -- although represented by several denominations -- has few adherents.
The diocese contains 38 parishes, but of the parochial clergy only eleven are native Cubans. The religious and charitable institutions at Cienfuegos are: Monserrat College, under the Jesuit Fathers, 20 religious, 159 pupils; Bartolomé de las Casas College, Dominican Fathers, 11 religious, 100 pupils; French College, 6 Marist Brothers, with 80 pupils; College of the Apostolate, 8 Sisters of the Apostolate of the Sacred Heart, with 38 pupils; Huerfanas de la Rosary, an orphanage conducted by the Daughters of the Rosary, 27 boarders and 54 scholars; Congregation of the Servants of Mary, for the care of the sick in their own homes, 8 sisters and 43 girl pupils in the free school; 9 Little Sisters of the Poor, with 62 inmates of their home for the aged. At Santa Clara there is a College of Saint Paul of the Cross, Passionists, 10 religious and 62 pupils; College of the Love of God, 6 Sisters of the love of God, with 56 girl pupils. At Trinidad the "Líceo Trinitario" is under the direction of Father of the Order of Discalced Carmelites. The few native Cubans in this diocese who feel called to priesthood either make their studies at the seminary of the Diocese of Havana or enter religious orders.
Catholic Directory (Milwaukee, 1908); Battandier, Ann Pont. Cath (Paris 1906) Dedicated to EJA 1998 (Bronx, NYC).