Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bahía Blanca

Archdiocese of Bahía Blanca

*Archidioecesis Sinus Albi*

Arquidiócesis de Bahía Blanca
Archdiocese of Bahía Blanca; Archidioecesis Sinus Albi; Arquidiócesis de Bahía Blanca
	Cathedral of Our Lady of Mercy
Location
Country	Argentina
Ecclesiastical province	Bahía Blanca
Statistics
Area	82,634 sq mi (214,020 km2)
Population; - Total; - Catholics	(as of 2012); 743,000; 635,000 (85.5%)
Parishes	56
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	20 April 1934 (90 years ago)
Cathedral	Our Lady of Mercy Cathedral in Bahía Blanca
Patron saint	Virgin of Mercy
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Archbishop	Carlos Azpiroz Costa, OP
Map
Website
	arzobispadobahia.org.ar

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bahía Blanca (Archidioecesis Sinus Albi) is a Latin

Roman Catholic Church with an ecclesiastical province in the eastern region of the national capital's province of Buenos Aires, central Argentina

.

Its cathedral archiepiscopal see and mother church, located in the city of Bahía Blanca, is the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mercy. Since 12 July 2017 Carlos Azpiroz Costa has been its Archbishop.

Extent and statistics

As per 2015, the Archdiocese pastorally served 661,096 Catholics (83.3% of 793,517 total) on 82,624 km² in 55 parishes and 236 missions with 71 priests (45 diocesan, 26 religious), 27 deacons, 211 lay religious (44 brothers, 167 sisters) and 15 seminarians.

It covers the partidos (municipalities) of Adolfo Alsina, Adolfo González Chávez, Bahía Blanca, Coronel Dorrego, Coronel de Marina Leonardo Rosales, Coronel Pringles, Coronel Suárez, Daireaux, Guaminí, Monte Hermoso, Patagones, Puán, Saavedra, San Cayetano, Tornquist, Tres Arroyos and Villarino.

Ecclesiastical province of Bahía Blanca

The Metropolitan Archdiocese has

Tierra del Fuego

, notably :

Roman Catholic Diocese of Alto Valle del Río Negro
Roman Catholic Diocese of Comodoro Rivadavia
Roman Catholic Diocese of Rawson
Roman Catholic Diocese of Río Gallegos
Roman Catholic Diocese of San Carlos de Bariloche
Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa, Argentina
, its daughter
Roman Catholic Diocese of Viedma
(pre-diocesan) Territorial Prelature of Esquel.

History

It was erected as Diocese of Bahía Blanca / Sinus Albi (Latin) on 20 April 1934 by Pope Pius XI's bull Nobilis Argentinae nationis, on territory split off from the Archdiocese of La Plata. Its first bishop was Leandro Bautista Astelarra (1934–1943).
It was elevated as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Bahía Blanca / Sinus Albi (Latin) on 11 February 1957 by
Diocese of Santa Rosa
.
It enjoyed a
Papal visit from Pope John Paul II
in April 1987.

Bishops

(all Roman Rite)

Episcopal Ordinaries

Suffragan Bishops of Bahía Blanca

Leandro Bautista Astelarra (13 September 1934 – death 24 August 1943)
Auxiliary Bishop
of La Plata (Argentina) (1943.08.23 – 1946.11.02)

Metropolitan Archbishops of Bahía Blanca

Germiniano Esorto (see above 2 November 1946 – retired 31 May 1972)
Santa Rosa
(Argentina) (1957.03.13 – 1972.05.31)
- Mercedes–Luján
  (1997.11.21 – retired 2000.03.07), died 2012
- Auxiliary Bishop: José Vittorio Tommasí (1984.11.19 – 1991.08.28), Titular Bishop of Equizetum (1984.11.19 – 1991.08.28); later Bishop of Nueve de Julio (Argentina) (1991.08.28 – death 1998.09.16)
Rómulo García (31 May 1991 – retired 15 June 2002), died 2005; previously Titular Bishop of Uzita (1975.08.09 – 1976.01.19) as Auxiliary Bishop of Diocese of Mar del Plata (Argentina) (1975.08.09 – 1976.01.19), succeeding as Bishop of Mar del Plata (1976.01.19 – 1991.05.31)
- Rotdon (1998.04.15 – 2003.03.19); next Bishop of Alto Valle del Río Negro
  (Argentina) (2003.03.19 – retired 2010.02.10)

Aquæ regiæ (1994.08.27 – 1997.02.20) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of La Plata (Argentina) (1994.08.27 – 1997.02.20), Bishop of San Rafael
(Argentina) (1997.02.20 – 2003.03.11)
- Zárate–Campana
  (Argentina) (2015.11.03 – ...)