CUENCA, DIOCESE OF. – A city and diocese in Castile (Spain), suffragan of Toledo. It covers an area of 21,797 sq. km. with 435,000 inhabitants, all Catholic. It has 326 parishes served by 212 secular priests and 33 regular clergy, and two seminaries (1948). The patron saint of the diocese is St Julian; the cathedral is dedicated to the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Some writers have believed that the present episcopal see succeeded the ancient Ercavica of the Romans, which was later destroyed by the Saracens. When the city of Cuenca was recaptured by King Alfonso VIII in 1177, he petitioned the Holy See for the erection of the diocese; this was granted by Lucius III in a bull dated 5 July 1183, issued at Velletri. The Pope confirmed the appointment made by the Castilian monarch of the first bishop, Juan Yáñez of Toledo, who, according to tradition, came from the family of the famous Cid Campeador. St Julian succeeded this bishop. Other notable bishops were Gonzalo Gudiel, who was in Barcelona at the death of St Raymond of Peñafort; Juan del Campo, ambassador to John XXII; Raffaele Cardinal Riario, nephew of Sixtus IV, succeeded by Don Ramirez de Fuenteal, who accompanied Adrian VI on his journey to Rome; Bernardo de Fresneda, O.F.M., confessor to Philip II; Cardinals Quiroga, M. Rodríguez de Castro and M. Payá; Alonso A. de San Martín, son of Philip IV; Isidoro de Carvajal, a descendant of the Mexican emperor Montezuma; and the Capuchin Sánchez Artesero, a great musician, poet and missionary in South America (d. 1855).
The principal shrines of the diocese are those of the Holy Christ of Priego, La Luz, Riansares, Tejada and Rus. Among the most notable monuments are the monasteries of Uclés, Belmonte, Alarcón, and the castles of Garcimuñoz and Villanueva de la Jara.
Giuseppe M. Pou y Marti
CUENCA, DIOCESE OF. – In Ecuador, suffragan of Quito. Erected by Pius VI on 1 July 1786. It covers an area of approx. 20,000 sq. km. with approx. 200,000 inhabitants.
Before the erection of the diocese of Guayaquil in 1838, it included, in addition to the provinces of Azuay and Cañar, that of Guayaquil as well. In 1948 the diocese was divided into 64 parishes with 93 diocesan priests and 57 regular clergy. In 1557, in the original village of Cuenca, 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 throughout the rest of the diocese, there are numerous richly adorned churches.
Alongside the secular clergy, 15 different religious orders work, especially in the education of youth.