Tegucigalpa, Archdiocese of
Tegucigalpa is a city and archdiocese in the Republic of Honduras (Central America). It comprises the departments of Yoro, Comayagua, La Paz, Valle, T., Choluteca, El Paraíso, and Olancho.
It has an area of 78,071 sq. km. with a population of 78,272 inhabitants, of whom 760,746 are Catholics; it has 41 parishes served by 30 diocesan priests and 45 religious; it has a seminary, 16 male religious communities, and 12 female religious communities (Ann. Pont. 1953, p. 419).
For the entire Republic of Honduras, the diocese of Comayagua was erected in 1561, but by decree of 2 Feb. 1916 the territory was divided into three parts: the eastern part became the archdiocese of T., the western part formed the new diocese of Santa Rosa de Copán, and the northern part was constituted as the Apostolic Vicariate of San Pedro Sula. Both the diocese and the vicariate thus became suffragan to T.
The bishop Jaime Marie Martinez y Cabunas, appointed in 1902, was promoted to the dignity of archbishop of T. following the decree of its elevation to a metropolitan see.