Archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros
Catholic archdiocese in the Dominican Republic

The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros (Latin: Archidioecesis Metropolitae Sancti Iacobi Equitum) is a Latin Rite Metropolitan Archdiocese in the Dominican Republic.
History
Established on 25 September 1953 as the Diocese of Santiago de los Caballeros / Sancti Iacobi Equitum (Latin adjective), on territory split off from Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santo Domingo
Lost territories on 1978-01-16 to establish two suffragan daughters, Diocese of Mao–Monte Cristi and Diocese of San Francisco de Macorís
Promoted on 14 February 1994 as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros / Sancti Iacobi Equitum (Latin)
Lost territory again on 1996-12-16 to establish another suffragan daughter, the Diocese of Puerto Plata.
Statistics
As per 2014, it pastorally served 1,118,000 Catholics (83.7% of 1,336,000 total) on 3,633 km² in 89 parishes and 17 missions with 125 priests (74 diocesan, 51 religious), 132 deacons, 350 lay religious (136 brothers, 214 sisters) and 37 seminarians.
Ecclesiastical province
The Metropolitan has the following suffragan sees :
Roman Catholic Diocese of La Vega
Roman Catholic Diocese of Mao-Monte Cristi
Roman Catholic Diocese of Puerto Plata
Roman Catholic Diocese of San Francisco de Macorís.
Bishops
(all Roman Rite)
Episcopal ordinaries
Suffragan Bishops of Santiago de los Caballeros
Apostolic Administrator Octavio Antonio Beras Rojas (1953 – 1956-07-22) while Titular Archbishop of Euchaitæ (1945-05-02 – 1961-12-10) and Coadjutor Archbishop of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) (1945-05-02 – 1961-12-10)
Hugo Eduardo Polanco Brito (1956-07-22 – 1966-03-14)
Roque Antonio Adames Rodríguez (1966.03.14 – 1992-04-22)
Auxiliary bishop Jesús María de Jesús Moya (1977-04-13 – 1984-04-20)
Juan Antonio Flores Santana (1992-07-13 – 1994-02-14 see below)
Metropolitan Archbishops of Santiago de los Caballeros
Juan Antonio Flores Santana (see above 1994-02-14 - 2003-07-16)
Auxiliary bishop Diómedes Espinal de León (2000-04-20 – 2006.05-24)
Ramón Benito de La Rosa y Carpio (2003-07-16 – 2015-02-23)
Freddy Antonio de Jesús Bretón Martínez (2015-02-23 – ...)
Auxiliary bishop Valentin Reynoso Hidalgo, (M.S.C.), (2007-10-22 – ...) Titular Bishop of Mades
Auxiliary Bishop Carlos Tomás Morel Diplán, (2016-12-14 – ...) Titular Bishop of Capo della Foresta
Héctor Rafael Rodríguez Rodríguez, (2023 - present)
Auxiliary bishops
Hugo Eduardo Polanco Brito (1953-1956), appointed Bishop here
Jesús María de Jesús Moya (1977-1984), appointed Bishop of San Francisco de Macorís
Diómedes Espinal de León(2000-2006), appointed Bishop of Mao-Monte Cristi
Valentín Reynoso Hidalgo, M.S.C. (2007-2018)
Carlos Tomás Morel Diplán (since 2016)
Andrés Amaury Rosario Henriquez (since 2025)
Other priests of this diocese who became bishops
Gregorio Nicanor Peña Rodríguez, appointed Bishop of Puerto Plata in 1996
José Amable Durán Tineo, appointed auxiliary bishop of Santo Domingo in 2020
See also
List of Catholic dioceses in the Dominican Republic
Notes and references
Sources and external links
GCatholic - data for all sections
Official website of the Archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros Archived 2012-01-03 at the Wayback Machine
"Archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros". Catholic-Hierarchy. Retrieved 2007-02-15.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros” as catholic archdiocese in the Dominican Republic. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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