Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico Archidiœcesis Sancti Joannis Portoricensis Arquidiócesis de San Juan de Puerto Rico | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Coat of arms | |
| Location | |
| Territory | Northcentral portion of Puerto Rico |
| Ecclesiastical province | Province of San Juan |
| Coordinates | 18°28′04″N 66°07′07″W / 18.4678°N 66.1186°W |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 407 sq mi (1,050 km2) |
| Population - Total - Catholics | (as of 2017) 1,330,000 929,000 (69.8%) |
| Parishes | 177 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | August 8, 1511 (512 years ago) |
| Cathedral | Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist |
| Patron saint | St. John the Baptist and Our Lady of Divine Providence |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Archbishop | Roberto González Nieves, O.F.M. |
| Auxiliary Bishops | Tomás González González |
| Map | |
 | |
| Website | |
| arqsj.org | |
The Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico (Latin: Archidiœcesis Sancti Joannis Portoricensis Spanish: Arquidiócesis de San Juan de Puerto Rico) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church– comprising the northeast portion of the island of Puerto Rico. Its jurisdiction includes the municipalities of Dorado, Toa Baja, Cataño, Toa Alta, Bayamón, Guaynabo, San Juan, Trujillo Alto, and Carolina.[1]
On November 15, 1504, Pope Julius II issued the Papal Bull Illius fulciti which erected the first ecclesiastical province in the New World[2] consisting of the Archdiocese of Hyaguata (located at Santo Domingo), the Diocese of Magua (located at Concepción de La Vega), and the Diocese of Bayuna (located at Lares de Guahaba).[3] As all the dioceses were located on the island of Hispañiola, the Spanish Crown requested that the Diocese of Bayuna be transferred to Puerto Rico.[3] The Bull never went into effect due to the objection of Ferdinand II of Aragon who opposed that the Bull gave the dioceses the right to receive a portion of the earnings from the gold and precious stones discovered in the territory.[2] On August 8, 1511, Pope Julius II issued a new Papal Bull Pontifax Romanus which extinguished the previously granted ecclesiastical province and its dioceses and reassigned their delegated bishops: Pedro Suárez de Deza, Bishop Elect of Hyaguata, was reassigned to the Diocese of Concepción de la Vega; Father Alonso Manso, Bishop Elect of Magua, was reassigned to the Diocese of Puerto Rico; and Francisco Garcia de Padilla, Bishop Elect of Bayuna, was reassigned to the Diocese of Santo Domingo.[2]
The See of San Juan de Puerto Rico was canonically erected on August 8, 1511, as the Diocese of Puerto Rico on the island of San Juan, as it was then called.[4] Due to the switch of names between the island and the capital its name was changed on November 21, 1924, to the Diocese of San Juan in Puerto Rico. With the creation of the Diocese of Arecibo on April 30, 1960, San Juan was raised to the status of an archdiocese, with the new archbishop leading a metropolitan province comprising all the dioceses on the island as suffragan dioceses.
The Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico is the metropolitan see for the Caguas, Fajardo–Humacao, Ponce, Mayagüez and Arecibo.
The current archbishop is Roberto González Nieves, O.F.M.
On August 29, 2018, the diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. On September 27, 2018, federal Judge Edward Godoy protected all assets of the archdiocese and its suffragan dioceses under Chapter 11, protecting them from seizures by individual creditors, for example, as payments to retired teachers.[5]
The lists of bishops, archbishops and auxiliary bishops and their terms of service:
On January 11, 2018, Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of San Juan filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, stating that the current pension plan was unworkable and applied for a new plan which has an estimated $10 million in assets and $10 million in liabilities.[7] On March 27, 2018, local Judge Anthony Cuevas issued an embargo against the Archdiocese of San Juan which would remain in effect until they could find $4.7 million to pay for teachers pension.[8] It was also ruled that the Catholic Church in Puerto Rico was a single entity and that the embargo would also apply to all the suffragan dioceses of the Archdiocese of San Juan.[5] On August 29, 2018, the Archdiocese of San Juan filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, noting that they were unable find the $4.7 million.[9] On September 7, 2018,[10] US Bankruptcy Judge Edward Godoy protected the Archdiocese of San Juan under Chapter 11, avoiding seizure of assets and payment of pensions to their retired teachers.[5] However, the bankruptcy will also apply to other Dioceses in Puerto Rico as well.[5]
