ANTEQUERA, OAXACA, ARCHDIOCESE of. - It comprises a large part of the state of Oaxaca, in the southern region of Mexico, on the Pacific coast. Erected as a diocese by Paolo III on 21 June 1535, it was raised to an archdiocese by Leone XIII on 23 June 1891, with Angelopoli as its appellate ordinary. Thus far it has been governed by 30 bishops and two archbishops.
From the very conquest of Mexico, the region was evangelized by the Franciscans and the Dominicans. It currently has a Catholic population of 842,000 souls. The diocese is divided into 128 parishes, administered by 137 priests. The number of churches and chapels is about one thousand. A. possesses a cathedral in the Spanish Renaissance style, begun in 1553 and then almost entirely rebuilt in 1702; a seminary called that of S. Croce, founded by Mons. Tommaso di Monterroso, tenth bishop of the diocese (d. 1665). Worthy of note are the convent of S. Domenico and the church of the same name, in the Plateresque style, whose interior decoration is considered among the richest in Mexico. The most famous shrine is that dedicated to Nostra Signora de La Soledad, patroness of the diocese.