Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Antofagasta

Catholic ecclesiastical territory

Archdiocese of Antofagasta

Archidioecesis Antofagastensis

Arquidiócesis de Antofagasta

Cathedral of St. Joseph

Location
Country|  Chile
Ecclesiastical province| Antofagasta
Statistics
Area| 84,506 km2 (32,628 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics| (as of 2012)
362,000
252,300 (69.7%)
Parishes| 19
Information
Rite| Latin Rite
Established| 1881 (142–143 years ago)
Cathedral| Cathedral of St Joseph in Antofagasta
Patron saint| Saint Joseph
Current leadership
Pope| Francis
Metropolitan Archbishop| Ignacio Francisco Ducasse Medina
Bishops emeritus| Patricio Infante Alfonso
Pablo Lizama Riquelme
Map
Website
www.iglesiadeantofagasta.cl

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Antofagasta (Latin: Antofagasten(sis)) is a Latin Rite Metropolitan archdiocese in northern Chile's Antofagasta Province.

## Special churches[edit]

* Its cathedral archiepiscopal see is Catedral San José, dedicated to Saint Joseph, in the city of Antofagasta.
* It also has a Minor Basilica : Basílica del Corazón de María

## History[edit]

* 1881: Established as Mission “sui iuris” of Antofagasta, on territory split off from the Diocese of La Serena (now Metropolitan)
* 1887: Promoted as Apostolic Vicariate of Antofagasta
* 3 February 1928: Promoted as Diocese of Antofagasta
* 1965.07.21: Lost territory to establish Territorial Prelature of Calama (now suffragan Diocese of San Juan de Calama)
* 28 June 1967: Promoted as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Antofagasta/ Antofagasten(sis) (Latin adjective)
* Enjoyed a Papal visit from Pope John Paul II in April 1987.

## Statistics[edit]

As per 2014, it pastorally served 386,017 Catholics (70.2% of 550,256 total) on 84,504 km2 in 20 parishes and 67 missions with 37 priests (18 diocesan, 19 religious), 28 deacons, 108 lay religious (24 brothers, 84 sisters) and 2 seminarians.

## Ecclesiastical province[edit]

The Metropolitan's Suffragan sees are :

* Roman Catholic Diocese of Iquique
* Roman Catholic Diocese of San Juan Bautista de Calama, its daughter see
* Roman Catholic Diocese of San Marcos de Arica

## Bishops[edit]

(all Roman rite Chileans)

### Ordinaries[edit]

Ecclesiastical Superior of Antofagasta

* Father Florencio Eduardo Fontecilla Sánchez (1883 – 1886.12.23), next Bishop of mother see La Serena (Chile) (1890.06.26 – death 1909.03.03)

Apostolic Vicars of Antofagasta

* Bishop-elect Luís Silva Lezaeta first term (1887.05.15 – 1896)
* Fr. Felipe Salas Errázuriz (1896.03.04 – 1905)
* Luís Silva Lezaeta again (1904.11.04 – 1928.02.03 see below), Titular Bishop of Olena (1912.01.05 – 1928.02.03)

Suffragan Bishops of Antofagasta

* Luís Silva Lezaeta (see above 1928.02.03 – death 1929.05.21)
* Alfredo Cifuentes Gómez (1933.12.23 – 1943.06.05), next Metropolitan Archbishop of La Serena (Chile) (1943.06.05 – 1967.03.10), Apostolic Administrator ad nutum Sanctae Sedis of Apostolic Administration of Copiapó (Chile) (1947.03.19 – 1948.06.17), emeritate as Titular Archbishop of Thapsus (1967.03.10 – retired 1970.12.02), died 1989

BIOs TO ELABORATE

* Hernán Frías Hurtado (1945.01.13 – 1957.05.24)
* Francisco de Borja Valenzuela Ríos (1957.08.20 – 1967.06.28 see below)

Metropolitan Archbishops of Antofagasta

* Francisco de Borja Valenzuela Ríos (see above 1967.06.28 – 1974.03.25), next Archbishop (personal title) of San Felipe (1974.03.25 - 1993.04.16)
* Carlos Oviedo Cavada, O. de M. (1974.03.25 – 1990.03.30), next Metropolitan Archbishop of Santiago de Chile (1990.03.30 - 1998.02.16), elevated to Cardinal in 1994; died 7 December 1998
* Patricio Infante Alfonso (1990.12.12 – 2004.11.26)
* Pablo Lizama Riquelme (2004.11.26 – 8 June 2017)
* Ignacio Francisco Ducasse Medina (8 June 2017 – ...)

### Coadjutor bishop[edit]

* Pablo Lizama Riquelme (2004)

### Auxiliary bishops[edit]

* Arturo Mery Beckdorf (1941-1944, Apostolic Administrator 1943–1944), appointed Bishop of Valdivia
* Juan Luis Ysern de Arce (1972-1974), appointed Bishop of San Carlos de Ancud
* Juan Bautista Herrada Armijo, O. de M. (1991-1997)

## See also[edit]

* List of Catholic dioceses in Chile

## Sources and external links[edit]

Wikisource has the text of a 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article about Apostolic Vicariate of Antofagasta.

* GCatholic.org
* Diocese website Archived 2013-07-21 at the Wayback Machine
* Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Vicariate Apostolic of Antofogaste" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
* Catholic Hierarchy

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Catholic dioceses in Chile

Province of Antofagasta|

* Archdiocese of Antofagasta
* Diocese of Arica
* Diocese of San Juan de Calama
* Diocese of Iquique

Province of Concepción|

* Archdiocese of Concepción
* Diocese of Chillán
* Diocese of Santa María de Los Ángeles
* Diocese of Temuco
* Diocese of Valdivia
* Diocese of Villarrica

Province of La Serena|

* Archdiocese of La Serena
* Diocese of Copiapó
* Territorial Prelature of Illapel

Province of Puerto Montt|

* Archdiocese of Puerto Montt
* Diocese of Osorno
* Diocese of Punta Arenas
* Diocese of San Carlos de Ancud

Province of Santiago de Chile|

* Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile
* Diocese of Linares
* Diocese of Melipilla
* Diocese of Rancagua
* Diocese of San Bernardo
* Diocese of San Felipe
* Diocese of Talca
* Diocese of Valparaíso

Sui iuris jurisdictions|

* Military Bishopric of Chile
* Apostolic Vicariate of Aysén

* Catholicism portal

23°38′49″S 70°23′51″W﻿ / ﻿23.6469°S 70.3976°W﻿ / -23.6469; -70.3976

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