Diocese of Ponce Dioecesis Poncensis Diócesis de Ponce | |
---|---|
Location | |
Country | Puerto Rico |
Territory | Southern portion of Puerto Rico |
Ecclesiastical province | San Juan de Puerto Rico |
Statistics | |
Area | 2,045 km2 (790 sq mi) |
Population - Total - Catholics | (as of 2004) 593,548 474,959 [1] (80%) |
Parishes | 42 |
Information | |
Denomination | Catholic |
Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
Rite | Roman Rite |
Established | 21 November 1924 (99 years ago) |
Cathedral | Catedral de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Francis |
Bishop | Ruben Antonio Gonzalez Medina |
Bishops emeritus | Félix Lázaro Martínez |
Map | |
The Diocese of Ponce (Latin : Dioecesis Poncensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States and consists of the southern part of the island of Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States. The diocese is led by a prelate bishop who pastors the mother church in the City of Ponce, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Its current bishop is S.E.R. Mons. Rubén Antonio González Medina, C.M.F. Its jurisdiction includes the municipalities of Adjuntas, Jayuya, Guánica, Guayanilla, Yauco, Peñuelas, Ponce, Juana Díaz, Villalba, Coamo, Santa Isabel, Salinas, Guayama, Arroyo, and Patillas. [2]
In 1978, Bishop Fremiot Torres Oliver acquired a large property in the Rio Chiquito sector of Barrio Portugués where the Diocese is currently (2019) located. [3]
Under the Spanish colonial system (1692–1898) the Diocese of Ponce operated and its bishop in 1877 was Juan Puig. [4] From 25 October 1892 to 1897, the bishop was Lorenzo Roura y Bayer. [5]
Other Padres Paules bishops at the Cathedral were: [6]
From 1970 on, Padres Paules left Ponce and the Cathedral was then run by the Diocese of Ponce directly. [7]
The See of Ponce was canonically erected on 21 November 1924, and is a suffragan diocese of the Metropolitan Province of San Juan de Puerto Rico. [8]
On 7 September 2018, Judge Edward Godoy ruled that the bankruptcy filed by the Archdiocese of San Juan would also apply to every Catholic diocese in Puerto Rico, including Ponce, and that all would now have their assets protected under Chapter 11. [9] [10]
Parish churches listed by founding dates:
The Puerto Rico campaign was the American military sea and land operation on the island of Puerto Rico during the Spanish–American War. The offensive began on May 12, 1898, when the United States Navy attacked the capital, San Juan. Though the damage inflicted on the city was minimal, the Americans were able to establish a blockade in the city's harbor, San Juan Bay. On June 22, the cruiser Isabel II and the destroyer Terror delivered a Spanish counterattack, but were unable to break the blockade and Terror was damaged.
The Archdiocese of 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.
Guayama, officially the Autonomous Municipality of Guayama, is a city and municipality on the Caribbean coast of Puerto Rico. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 36,614. It is the center of the Guayama metropolitan area with a population of 68,442 in 2020.
Corsican immigration to Puerto Rico resulted in the 19th century from widespread economic and political changes in Europe that made life difficult for the peasant and agricultural classes in Corsica and other territories. The Second Industrial Revolution drew more people into urban areas for work, widespread crop failure resulted from long periods of drought, and crop diseases, and political discontent rose. In the early nineteenth century, Spain lost most of its possessions in the so-called "New World" as its colonies won independence. It feared rebellion in its last two Caribbean colonies: Puerto Rico and Cuba. The Spanish Crown had issued the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815 which fostered and encouraged the immigration of European Catholics, even if not of Spanish origin, to its Caribbean colonies.
The Catholic Church in Puerto Rico is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the pope in Rome. The 78 municipalities in Puerto Rico have a Catholic church which is located in the downtown area, normally across from the central plaza.
Puerto Rico Highway 2 (PR-2) is a road in Puerto Rico that connects the cities of San Juan and Ponce. At 156 miles (230 km) long, it is Puerto Rico's longest singled-signed highway.
The Episcopal Church Diocese of Puerto Rico is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in Puerto Rico.
The Yauco Metropolitan Statistical Area was a United States Census Bureau defined metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in southwestern Puerto Rico. In 2023, this area was formally dissolved and three of its municipalities were added to the Ponce Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Ponce Metropolitan Statistical Area is a United States Census Bureau defined Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in south central Puerto Rico. A 1 July 2009 Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 262,414, a 0.95% decrease from the 2000 census figure of 264,919.
Julián H. Villodas was Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico, from 1 January 1827 – 31 December 1830. He performed as a teniente a guerra.
Porta Caribe is a tourism region in southern Puerto Rico. It was established in 2003 by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, an agency of the Government of Puerto Rico. When created in 2003 it consisted of 14 municipalities in the south central zone. With the creation of the neighboring Porta Cordillera zone in July 2012, the municipalities of Adjuntas and Jayuya were transferred to the newly created Porta Cordillera zone and Porta Caribe became a 12-municipality tourism region. The name Porta Caribe translates to "Doorway to the Caribbean." Its executive director is Maritza W. Ruiz Cabán.
Luis Aponte Martínez was a Puerto Rican Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of San Juan from 1965 to 1999. He is the only Puerto Rican to have been named a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He participated as an elector in the two conclaves of 1978, which elected Popes John Paul I and John Paul II.
Félix Lázaro Martínez, Sch.P., is a Spanish-born prelate who served as the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ponce. Lázaro was ordained to serve as the Coadjutor Bishop of Ponce on 25 April 2002, and was elevated to bishop of the diocese on 11 June 2003. He retired on 22 December 2015 and was succeeded by Rubén González Medina, the Bishop of Caguas.
Puerto Rico senatorial district V, also known as the senatorial district of Ponce, is one of the eight senatorial districts of Puerto Rico. It is currently represented by Marially González Huertas and Ramón Ruiz Nieves.
La Perla del Sur is a weekly online Spanish-language newspaper based in Ponce, Puerto Rico, catering to a regional audience. It started as a printed paper distributed in nine towns in southern Puerto Rico and had a circulation of 75,000. It also had an Internet portal where the entire printed version of the paper could be accessed. It was founded in 1983. After a three-month hiatus from June to September 2022, the paper re-opened as an online-only paper on 15 September 2022 under new ownership.
Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2017 was the 62nd Miss Universe Puerto Rico pageant, held at the Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A. Ferré in Santurce, Puerto Rico, on May 4, 2017.