Roman Catholic Archdiocese of León

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of León (Latin: "Archidioecesis Leonensis") is an ecclesiastical territory or Metropolitan diocese of the Roman Catholic Church based in the Mexican city of León, Guanajuato. It currently covers an area of 41,940 km², and has a population of 6,500,000, including the states of Guanajuato and Querétaro. It was created as the Diocese of León on January 26, 1863 by Pope Pius IX, and elevated to the rank of a metropolitan archdiocese by Pope Benedict XVI on November 25, 2006, with the suffragan sees of Celaya, Irapuato, and Querétaro.

The archdiocese's motherchurch and thus seat of its archbishop is the Catedral Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Luz. The current Archbishop of León is "His Excellency" José Martín Rábago, appointed by Pope John Paul II on June 13, 1995.

Boundaries

The Archdiocese of León is the Metropolitan see of the suffragan dioceses of Irapuato, Celaya, Querétaro.

The Archdiocese of León covers the municipalities of León, Guanajuato, San Felipe, Ocampo, San Francisco del Rincón, Purísima del Rincón, Romita, Silao and Cd. Manuel Doblado.

The Diocese of Irapuato includes the municipalities of Abasolo, Cuerámaro, Huanímaro, Irapuato, Jaral del Progreso, Pénjamo, Pueblo Nuevo, Salamanca, and Valle de Santiago.

The Diocese of Celaya covers 11 municipalities: San Diego de la Unión, Dolores Hidalgo, San Luis de la Paz, San Miguel de Allende, Santa Cruz de Juventino Rosas, Comonfort, Villagrán, Celaya, Apaseo el Grande, Cortazar, and Apaseo el Alto.

The Diocese of Querétaro covers 18 municipalities of the State of Querétaro and 7 municipalities of Guanajuato: Atarjea, Docto Mora, San José Iturbide, Santa Catarina, Tierra Blanca, Victoria, and Xichú.

=List of Ordinaries of León=

*José de Sollano y Dávaols (1863 - 1881)
*Tomás Barón y Morales (1882 - 1898)
*Santiago Garza Zambrano (1898 - 1900)
*Leopoldo Ruiz y Flóres (1900 - 1907)
*José Mora y del Rio (1907 - 1908)
*Emeterio Valverde y Télles (1909 - 1948)
*Manuel Martín del Campo Padilla (1948 - 1965)
*Anselmo Zarza Bernal (1966 - 1992)
*Rafael Garcia González (1992 - 1994)
*José Martín Rábago (1995 - present)

ee also

*List of Roman Catholic archdioceses in México

External links

* [http://www.arquidiocesisdeleon.org.mx Archdiocese of Leon website]
* [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dleon.html Catholic-Hierarchy]
* [http://www.gcatholic.com/dioceses/diocese/leon1.htm Giga-Catholic Information]