Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guayaquil

The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Guayaquil (Latin: Archidioecesis Guayaquilensis) is an archdiocese located in the city of Guayaquil in Ecuador.

Archdiocese of Guayaquil Archidioecesis Guayaquilensis
Cathedral of St. Peter
Location
Country	Ecuador
Ecclesiastical province	Province of Guayaquil
Statistics
Area	2,291.77 km2 (884.86 sq mi)
Population Total Catholics	(as of 2022) 2,630,000 2,234,000 (84.9%)
Parishes	164
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Latin Rite
Established	29 January 1838 (Erected as Diocese) 22 January 1956 (Elevated to Archdiocese)
Cathedral	Catedral San Pedro
Secular priests	285
Current leadership
Pope	Leo XIV
Archbishop	Luis Cabrera Herrera
Auxiliary Bishops	Gerardo Miguel Nieves Loja
Bishops emeritus	Antonio Arregui Yarza Victor Manuel Maldonado Barreno
Map
Website
arquidiocesisdeguayaquil.org.ec

Special churches

Inside Merced Basilica

• Minor Basilica: Basílica de Nuestra Señora de La Merced in Guayaquil

Leadership

Bishops of Guayaquil

• Francisco Xavier de Garaycoa (1838 – 5 Sep 1851), appointed Archbishop of Quito
• Tomás Aguirre (22 Jul 1861 – 14 May 1868)
• José María Lizarzabaru y Borja, SJ (22 Nov 1869 – 17 Oct 1877)
• Roberto Maria Pozo y Martin, SJ (13 Nov 1884 – 1909)
• Juan María Riera, OP (19 Jan 1912 – 20 Nov 1915)
• Andrés Machado, SJ (26 Apr 1916 – 22 Jan 1926)
• Carlos María Javier de la Torre (20 Dec 1926 – 8 Sep 1933), appointed Archbishop of Quito (Cardinal in 1953)
• Giuseppe Felix Heredia Zurita, SJ (16 Dec 1937 – 2 Aug 1954)
• Cesar Antonio Mosquera Corral* (11 Oct 1954 – 11 Mar 1969)
  • Became archbishop on 22 Jan 1956

Archbishops of Guayaquil

• Bernardino Echeverría Ruiz, OFM (10 Apr 1969 – 7 Dec 1989); elevated to Cardinal in 1994
• Juan Ignacio Larrea Holguín (7 Dec 1989 – 7 May 2003)
• Antonio Arregui Yarza (7 May 2003 – 24 Sep 2015)
• Luis Cabrera Herrera, OFM (24 Sep 2015 – present)

Coadjutor archbishop

• Juan Ignacio Larrea Holguín (1988-1989)

Auxiliary bishops

• Luis Tola y Avilés (1863-1871), appointed Bishop of Portoviejo (Porto Vecchio)
• Silvio Luis Haro Alvear (1950-1955), appointed Bishop of Ibarra
• José Gabriel Diaz Cueva (1964-1967), appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Cuenca
• Vicente Rodrigo Cisneros Durán (1967-1969), appointed Bishop of Ambato
• Ernesto Alvarez Alvarez, SDB (1967-1970 and, as Archbishop (personal title), 1980-1984), appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Cuenca in 1970
• Raúl Eduardo Vela Chiriboga (1972-1975), appointed Bishop of Azogues; future Cardinal
• Hugolino Felix Cerasuolo Stacey, OFM (1975-1985), appointed Bishop of Loja
• Luis Enrique Orellana Ricaurte, SJ (1978-1986), appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Quito
• Olindo Natale Spagnolo Martellozzo, MCCJ (1990-2001)
• Victor Manuel Maldonado Barreno, OFM (1990-2003)
• Aníbal Nieto Guerra, OCD (2006-2009), appointed Bishop of San Jacinto de Yaguachi
• Marcos Aurelio Pérez Caicedo (2006-2012), appointed Bishop of Babahoyo
• Valter Dario Maggi (2008-2011), appointed Bishop of Ibarra
• Guido Iván Minda Chalá (2009-2022)
• Giovanni Battista Piccioli (2013-2022)
• Bertram Víctor Wick Enzler (2013-2015), appointed Bishop of Santo Domingo en Ecuador
• Antonio Crameri, SSC (2019-2021)
• Gerardo Miguel Nieves Loja (since 2021)
• Gustavo Adolfo Rosales Escobar (2022–2025)

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

• Eduardo José Castillo Pino, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Portoviejo in 2012

Suffragan dioceses

• Diocese of Babahoyo
• Diocese of Daule
• Diocese of San Jacinto
• Diocese of Santa Elena

See also

• Roman Catholicism in Ecuador

Sources

• GCatholic.org
• Catholic Hierarchy
• Diocese website (Old website)

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