Mexico—1

The Spanish conquered Mexico between 1517 and 1521 and over the next dozen years Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians brought the Catholic Faith to the Mexican people.  The Diocese of Mexico City was established in 1530.  Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego in 1531.
It was a Catholic priest, Manuel Hidalgo, who called for Mexican independence in 1810.  The independence movement was quickly put down by the colonial government and Hidalgo was killed in 1811.  Mexico was able to achieve independence in 1821, but a civil war began in 1858 that led the French to take control of Mexico in 1861.  The French withdrew in 1867.

The Mexican Revolution began in 1910 and would last for two over decades.  During the first decade alone, 900,000 Mexicans went to the United States to escape the violence.  The Revolution also had a profound change on the Church.  The 1917 Mexican Constitution put severe limits on the Church and many viewed it as anti-clerical.  Between 1926 and 1934, Mexican anti-clericalism turned violent.  More than 40 priests were killed and over 90 percent of priests fled Mexico, many to the United States.  It was not until 1992 that most of the severe restrictions on the Church were removed.
Mexico has 126 million people and 83 percent are Catholic.  About 9 percent are Protestant.  It needs to be noted that Church alignment with the government during Colonial times created hostility, especially among the poor, that remains an issue.

Mexico has 19 ecclesiastical provinces.  In addition, there is a Greek-Melkite diocese that was established in 1988.  It serves 5,000 Greek-Melkite Catholics and is immediately subject to the Greek-Melkite Patriarch.  A Maronite Catholic diocese serves 160,000 Maronite Catholics.  It was established in 1995 and is immediately subject to the Maronite Patriarch.  An Armenian apostolic exarchy was established in 1981 to serve 12,000 Armenian Catholics.  It is immediately subject to the Pope.

This blog will cover six ecclesiastical provinces in northern Mexico.

Province of Durango

The province consists of the State of Durango and parts of Coahuila and Sinaloa.  The Diocese of Durango was created in 1620 and became a metropolitan archdiocese in 1891.

The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Durango (Immaculate Conception) was built primarily between 1695 and 1713.  The façade is fashioned in a Baroque style and the doors are made in a Spanish baroque style.  Inside there is a marble statue of the Immaculate Conception.  The Cathedral was designated a minor basilica by Pope Pius XII in 1957.

Pictures are from Pinterest, TripAdvisor, and Wikipedia.

The Province has four suffragan jurisdictions.

• The Diocese of Torreon was established in1957.
• The Diocese of Mazatlán was established in 1958.
• The Diocese of Gomez Palacio was established in 2008.
• The Territorial Prelature of El Salto was established in 1968.

Province of Monterrey

The province consists of the States of Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, and Tamaulipas.  The Diocese of Linares was established in 1777 and became a metropolitan archdiocese in 1891.  It was renamed the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Monterrey in 1922.  The Cathedral of Our Lady of Monterrey in Monterrey was built between 1705 and 1791 using neoclassical and baroque styles.

Pictures are from Wikipedia.

The Province has seven suffragan dioceses.

• The Diocese of Tampico began as an apostolic vicariate in 1861 and became a diocese in 1870.  It acquired its current name in 1958.
• The Diocese of Saltillo was established in 1891.
• The Diocese of Matamoros was created in 1958 and became the Diocese of Metamoros-Reynosa in 2024.
• The Diocese of Linares was established in 1962.
• The Diocese of Ciudad Victoria was created in 1964.
• The Diocese of Nuevo Laredo was established in 1989.
• The Diocese of Piedras Negras was created in 2003.

Province of Chihuahua

The province consists of the State of Chihuahua.  The Diocese of Chihuahua was established in 1891 and was promoted to a metropolitan archdiocese in 1958.

The Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Chihuahua was built between 1725 and 1826 and is considered one of the finest examples of colonial architecture in Mexico.  It was built in the Spanish Baroque style and its façade has an octagonal window made in Germany.  The Cathedral’s pipe organ was made by Hook and Hastings in 1885 and rebuilt by E.F. Walcker in 1960.  The Cathedral contains the tomb of St. Peter of Jesus Maldonado, a priest and martyr canonized in 2000.

Pictures are from Wikipedia.

The Province has five suffragan dioceses.

• The Diocese of Ciudad Juarez was created in 1957.
• The Diocese of Parral was created in 1992.
• The Diocese of Tarahumara was created as a mission sui juris in 1950, became an apostolic vicariate in 1958, and a diocese in 1993.
• The Diocese of Cuauhtemoc-Madera was created as a territorial prelature in 1966 before being promoted to a diocese in 1995.
• The Diocese of Nuevo Casas Grandes was created as a territorial prelature in 1977 before becoming a diocese in 2000.

Province of Hermosillo

The province consists of the States of Sonora and part of Sinaloa.  The Diocese of Sonora was created in 1779 and renamed Hermosillo in 1959.  It became the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Hermosillo in 1963.

The Cathedral of the Assumption in Hermosillo was built between 1887 and 1908, although the dome was not completed until 1963.  It was built with a cream-colored stone combining Baroque and Gothic styles.

Pictures are from Pinterest, TripAdvisor, and Wikipedia.

The Province has three suffragan dioceses.

• The Diocese of Culiacan was established in 1883 and acquired its current name in 1959.
• The Diocese of Ciudad Obregon was created in 1959.
• The Diocese of Nogales was created in 2015.

Province of San Luis Potosi

The province consists of the States of San Luis Potosi and Zacatecas.  The Diocese of San Luis Potosi was created in 1854 and became a metropolitan archdiocese in 1988.  The Cathedral of St. Louis the King in San Luis Potosi was built between 1670 and 1730 using pink stone.  It has two towers and a baroque façade with 24 statues of the Apostles.

The first picture is from Expedia and the other two are from Wikipedia.

The Province has three suffragan jurisdictions.

• The Diocese of Zacatecas was created in 1863.
• The Diocese of Ciudad Valles was created in 1960.
• The Diocese of Matehuala was created in 1997.

Province of Tijuana

The province consists of the State of Baja California.  The Apostolic Vicariate of California Inferiore was established in 1874.  This became the Diocese of Tijuana in 1963 and the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Tijuana in 2006.

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe is in downtown Tijuana and may be replaced in the future with a new building in a different location.  See iglesiatijuana.org.

Picture from TripAdvisor.

The Province has three suffragan dioceses.

• The Diocese of Mexicali was created in 1966.
• The Diocese of La Paz began as an apostolic prefecture in 1957, became an apostolic vicariate in 1976, before being promoted to a diocese in 1988.
• The Diocese of Ensenada was created in 2007.

Definitions

The Catholic Church is mostly divided into ecclesiastical provinces—a province consists of a metropolitan archdiocese and one or more dioceses.  The province and the archdiocese are led by an archbishop.  Each of the dioceses is called a suffragan diocese and is led by a bishop.  Archbishops have some responsibilities for the province, but all bishops answer directly to the Pope.  There are also jurisdictions below the level of a diocese.  These include territorial prelatures which are missionary territories below the level of a diocese.

Most Catholics in the world belong to the Latin or Roman rite.  Rite refers to liturgical practices, ecclesiastical discipline, and spiritual heritage.  Many Catholics belong to one of two dozen Eastern rite churches.  Eastern rite churches trace their heritage to Eastern Europe and the Middle East.  Eastern rite churches sometimes use different terminologies.  For example, a diocese might be called an eparchy and is led by an eparch.  A vicariate apostolic is called an exarchy and is led by an exarch.

A basilica is an honorary title bestowed on a church by the Pope because of the church’s antiquity, dignity, historical importance, or significance as a center of worship.  Some cathedrals are also basilicas.  Each basilica has a ceremonial umbrella in the papal colors of white and yellow and a ceremonial bell.  Both of these are symbolic of the Pope’s special relationship to the basilica.