CUENCA, Diocese of. - City and diocese in Castile (Spain), suffragan of Toledo. It has an area of 21,797 sq km with 435,000 inhabitants, all Catholic. It has 326 parishes served by 212 secular priests and 33 regulars, and two seminaries (1948). The patron of the diocese is St. Julian; the Cathedral is dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin Mary.
Some writers have believed that the present episcopal see succeeded the ancient Ercavica of the Romans, later destroyed by the Saracens. After the city of C. was reconquered by King Alfonso VIII in 1177, he requested from the Holy See the erection of the diocese; this was granted by Lucius III with a bull of 5 July 1183, dated at Velletri; the Pope approved the appointment made by the Castilian monarch of the first bishop, Giovanni Yanez of Toledo, who according to tradition came from the family of the famous Cid Campeador. This bishop was succeeded by St. Julian. Other illustrious bishops were Gonzalo Gudiel, who was in Barcelona at the death of St. Raymond of Peñafort; G. del Campo, ambassador to John XXII; Raffaele Cardinal Riario, nephew of Sixtus IV, who was succeeded by D. Ramirez de Fuenlcal, companion of Adrian VI on the journey to Rome; Bernardo de Fresneda, O.F.M., confessor of Philip II; the cardinals Q. Quiroga, M. Rodriguez de Castro and M. Payá; Alonso A. de San Martín, son of Philip IV; Isidoro de Carvajal, descendant of the Mexican emperor Montezuma; and the Capuchin Sanchez Artesero, a great musician, poet and missionary in South America (d. 1855).
The principal sanctuaries of the diocese are those of the Holy Christ of Priego, of La Luz, Rianares, Tejada y Rus. Among the most notable monuments are remembered the monastery of Uclés, Belmonte, Alarcón, the castle of Garcimuñoz y Villanueva de la Jara.
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CUENCA, DIOCESE of. - In Ecuador, suffragan of Quito. Erected by Pius VI on 1 July 1786.
It has an area of about 20,000 sq km with about 200,000 inhabitants.
Before the erection of the diocese of Guayaquil in 1838, it included, besides the provinces of Aznay and Canar, also that of Guayaquil. In 1948 the diocese was divided into 64 parishes with 93 diocesan priests and 57 regulars. In 1557, in the primitive village of C., which arose on the banks of the Matadero, the first church dedicated to Todos los Santos was erected. Now, both in the episcopal city and in the rest of the diocese, there are numerous richly adorned churches.
Alongside the secular clergy, 15 different religious families work, especially for the education of youth.