Angelopolis [Puebla], Archdiocese of

ANGELOPOLIS [PUEBLA], ARCHDIOCESE OF. - It is the oldest diocese in Mexico, having been erected by Clement VII with the bull Devotionis tuae on 13 Oct. 1525. At first it had its seat in Tlascala, from where it was transferred to Puebla de los Angeles in 1550. It was elevated to archiepiscopal dignity in 1903. Up to now it has been governed by 32 bishops and 3 archbishops. The archdiocese is divided into 172 parishes. The clergy is composed of 273 secular priests and 52 regulars. The seminary is named after the celebrated bishop Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, who reorganized it toward the middle of the 17th century.

The first to evangelize the region were the Franciscans, followed later by the Dominicans and the Jesuits. Among the numerous sanctuaries of the archdiocese (about twenty), that of Our Lady of Ocotlan, near the city of Tlascala, is of special importance. Among the religious monuments, special mention is deserved by: the convent of St. Barbara, in which lived St. Felipe de Jesús, protomartyr Franciscan in Mexico, and Br. Vicente de S. José, later a martyr in Japan; the chapels of the Rosary, in the church of St. Dominic, in "chorrigueresque" style; the church of St. Francis, which preserves the incorrupt body of the blessed Sebastian de Aparición, a Spanish Franciscan; the church of La Vera Cruz, in whose convent lived another celebrated Spanish Franciscan, Br. Toribio de Benavente, called Motolinia, greatly venerated by the Indians, of whom he was a great benefactor, defender and historian; the church of the Holy Spirit, decorated by the celebrated Jesuit Carrasco, and the cathedral, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception and elevated by Pius X to a minor basilica in 1910. This distinguished monument is in Spanish Renaissance style and its construction, begun in 1539, continued until 1641.

The suffragan dioceses of A. are: Huejutla, Huajuapan, Papantla; appellate ordinary: Mexico.

Riccardo Riquelme