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Archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros

Catholic archdiocese in the Dominican Republic

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 28, 2025
Entity authorityQ1365514 ↗
Source-derived summary

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.

Editorial summary

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.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1953, 1978, 1994, 1996—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1953-01-01. The account is most persuasive where Archdiocese, Santiago and Caballeros can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as catholic archdiocese in the Dominican Republic. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 28, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q1365514. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1953, 1978, 1994 and 1996.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
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  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros primary sources, Archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros archive and Archdiocese research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.