Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bogotá


The Archdiocese of Bogotá is a particular church of the Roman Catholic Church in Colombia. It was established in 1562 as the Diocese of Santa Fe en Nueva Granada, elevated to an archdiocese two years later, and was given its current name in 1891. It serves nearly 3.8 million Catholics in Bogotá and parts of the Cundinamarca Department, and covers a total area of 4,109 km2. The current archbishop is Luis José Rueda Aparicio since 2020.
The archdiocese is the metropolitan see of the Ecclesiastical Province of Bogotá, which includes six suffragan dioceses:
The archdiocese's territory covers 14 of the 20 localities of the city of Bogotá and 11 municipalities in the Cundinamarca Department. Prior to 2003, when three new urban dioceses were created, the archdiocese included all of Bogotá. The mother church of the archdiocese, and the seat of the archbishop, is the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, located in Bolívar Square in Bogotá. Besides Cardinal Salazar Gómez, the archdiocese has two auxiliary bishops, Luis Manuel Alí Herrera and Pedro Manuel Salamanca Mantilla. The archdiocese is served by around 800 priests, 100 deacons, and nearly 1,500 religious sisters.
The Archdiocese of Bogotá has 275 parishes, containing numerous churches. The archdiocese runs two seminaries, the Major Seminary of Bogotá, which enrolls seminarians from the Archdiocese of Bogotá and other dioceses, and the Seminario Intermisional San Luis Beltrán, which trains priests for ministry in Colombia's missionary territories. It also contains several universities, dozens of secondary schools and primary schools. The archdiocese also runs a spiritual retreat house, a care center for physically and mentally disabled children, and a migrant charity foundation, among other ministries.

Structure

Territory

The Archdiocese of Bogotá covers a total area of 4,109 km2. The archdiocese has a total population of 4.4 million, of whom 3.8 million are Catholic. Its territory includes 14 of the 20 localities of the city of Bogotá and 11 municipalities in the Cundinamarca Department. The Cundinamarca municipalities are: La Calera, Cáqueza, Fómeque, Choachí, Une, Chipaque, Fosca, Quetame, Ubaque, Guayabetal, and Gutiérrez. The Archdiocese of Bogotá included the entire city of Bogotá until 2003, when the three new urban dioceses of Engativá, Fontibón, and Soacha were created.
At the time of its establishment in 1564, the Archdiocese of Bogotá included much of what would become Colombia, as well as part of what is now western Venezuela. Beginning in the 1770s, the archdiocese gradually lessened in size as territory was split off to create new dioceses. Territory that was once part of the Archdiocese of Bogotá now comprises the Archdiocese of Mérida, the Archdiocese of Antioquía, the Archdiocese of Nueva Pamplona, the Archdiocese of Tunja, the Archdiocese of Ibagué, the Diocese of Garzón, the Archdiocese of Villavicencio, and Bogotá's six suffragan sees: the Diocese of Zipaquirá, the Diocese of Girardot, the Diocese of Facatativá, the Diocese of Engativá, the Diocese of Fontibón, and the Diocese of Soacha.

Pastoral divisions

The Archdiocese of Bogotá is divided into eight vicariates, pastoral divisions covering a certain area that each contain a number of parishes and are each headed by an episcopal vicar. Each vicariate is subdivided into a number of arciprestazgos, or deaneries, which are each headed by an archpriest. The vicariates are listed as follows:
Episcopal vicariateTerritoryDeaneriesParishesEpiscopal vicar
Vicariate of the Immaculate Conception
Central Bogotá
854Daniel Arturo Delgado Guana
Vicariate of Christ the Priest
Northeastern Bogotá742Carlos Julio López Ramírez
Vicariate of the Holy Spirit
Southwestern Bogotá644Luis Augusto Campos Flórez
Vicariate of St. John
Southeastern Bogotá, Chipaque, Caqueza, Une, Quetame, Fosca, Gutiérrez, Guayabetal, Choachí, Fómeque & Ubaque747Julio Hernando Solórzano Solórzano
Vicariate of St. Peter
Northern Bogotá526Germán Medina Acosta
Vicariate of St. Paul
Southeastern Bogotá33Alberto Forero Castro
Vicariate of the Merciful Father
Parts of Bogotá630Alberto José Ojalvo Prieto
Vicariate of St. Elizabeth of Hungary

Personnel

The archdiocese is led by its archbishop, Cardinal Rubén Salazar Gómez. The Archbishop of Bogotá also holds the title Primate of Colombia. The archbishop is assisted by auxiliary bishops, the number of which has varied throughout history, from just one to as many as six. Currently, there are two auxiliary bishops, Luis Manuel Alí Herrera and Pedro Manuel Salamanca Mantilla. The archdiocese also has a chancellor, who heads the chancery, which is responsible for all archdiocesan records and publications. The current chancellor is Ricardo Alfonso Pulido Aguilar. Additionally, there are eight episcopal vicars who oversee a vicariate, or region, within the archdiocese.
The archdiocese is served by approximately 740 priests, including more than 300 diocesan priests, and around 425 religious priests, or priests who are members of religious institutes. There are also 130 deacons, a number that has increased from just 20 in 2001. In addition, there are 1,450 religious sisters and nuns living and working in the archdiocese.

Ecclesiastical province

The Archdiocese of Bogotá is the metropolitan see of the Ecclesiastical Province of Bogotá, which, in addition to the archdiocese, includes the six suffragan dioceses of Engativá, Facatativá, Fontibón, Girardot, Soacha, and Zipaquirá. The Archbishop of Bogotá is the metropolitan archbishop of the ecclesiastical province, and as such, holds some authority over the suffragan bishops of the other dioceses.

Education

Seminaries

Universities

Secondary schools

Ordinaries

Archbishops of Santa Fe en Nueva Granada

  1. Juan de los Barrios, OFM
  2. Luis Zapata de Cárdenas, OFM
  3. Alfonso López de Avila
  4. Bartolomé Martinez Menacho y Mesa
  5. Bartolomé Lobo Guerrero
  6. Juan Castro, OSA
  7. Pedro Ordóñez y Flórez
  8. Hernando de Arias y Ugarte
  9. Julián de Cortázar
  10. Bernardino de Almansa Carrión
  11. Cristóbal de Torres, OP
  12. Juan de Arguinao y Gutiérrez, OP
  13. Antonio Sanz Lozano
  14. Ignacio de Urbina, OSH
  15. Francisco de Cosío y Otero
  16. Francisco del Rincón, OM
  17. Antonio Claudio Álvarez de Quiñones
  18. Juan de Galavís, O. Praem
  19. Diego Fermín de Vergara, OSA
  20. Pedro Felipe de Azúa e Iturgoyen
  21. José Javier de Arauz y Rojas
  22. Manuel Sosa Betencourt
  23. Francisco Antonio de la Riva Mazo
  24. Lucas Ramírez Galán, OFM
  25. Agustín Manuel Camacho y Rojas, OP
  26. Agustín de Alvarado y Castillo
  27. Antonio Caballero y Góngora
  28. Baltasar Jaime Martínez de Compañón
  29. Fernando del Portillo y Torres, OP
  30. Juan Bautista Sacristán y Galiano
  31. Isidoro Domínguez, CRM
  32. Fernando Caycedit Florez
  33. Manuel José Mosquera y Arboleda
  34. Antonio Herrán y Zaldúa
  35. Vicente Arbeláez Gómez
  36. José Telésforo Paúl, SJ
  37. Ignacio León Velasco, SJ
  38. Bernardo Herrera Restrepo

    Archbishops of Bogotá

  39. Bernardo Herrera Restrepo
  40. Ismael Perdomo Borrero
  41. Crisanto Luque Sánchez ; Cardinal in 1953
  42. Luis Concha Córdoba ; Cardinal in 1961
  43. Aníbal Muñoz Duque ; Cardinal in 1973
  44. Mario Revollo Bravo ; Cardinal in 1988
  45. Pedro Rubiano Sáenz ; Cardinal in 2001
  46. Rubén Salazar Gómez ; Cardinal in 2012
  47. Luis José Rueda Aparicio ;

    Other affiliated bishops

Coadjutor archbishops