The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Buenos Aires (Archidioecesis Metropolitae Bonaerensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Argentina. It is a metropolitan archdiocese with 13 suffragan sees in the country, including two Eastern Catholic eparchies.
Metropolitan Archdiocese of Buenos Aires Archidioecesis Metropolitae Bonaerensis Arquidiócesis Metropolitana de Buenos Aires | |
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Location | |
Country | Argentina |
Territory | Buenos Aires |
Ecclesiastical province | Buenos Aires |
Statistics | |
Area | 78 sq mi (200 km2) |
Population - Total - Catholics | (as of 2012) 2,917,000 2,671,000 (91.6%) |
Parishes | 186 |
Information | |
Denomination | Catholic Church |
Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
Rite | Roman Rite |
Established | 6 April 1620 |
Cathedral | Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral |
Patron saint | Nuestra Señora del Buen Aire |
Secular priests | 471 |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Francis |
Archbishop | Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva |
Metropolitan Archbishop | Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva |
Auxiliary Bishops |
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Bishops emeritus | Mario Aurelio Poli |
Map | |
Website | |
arzbaires.org.ar |
The Metropolitan Archbishopric of Buenos Aires is the Primatial see (protocollary first-rank) of Argentina,[1][2][3] although the incumbent Metropolitan may be outranked by Cardinals or more senior ones. On 13 March 2013, then-Archbishop Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as Pope, under the name of Francis. The current archbishop, since 26 May 2023, is Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Buenos Aires was the second largest Catholic city in the world after Paris.[4][5] In 2014 the Archdiocese pastorally served 2,721,000 Catholics (91.6% of 2,971,000 total) in an area of 205 km2 in 186 parishes and 183 missions with 783 priests (456 diocesan, 327 religious), 11 deacons, 1,915 lay religious (477 brothers, 1,438 sisters) and 53 seminarians. It is divided into the four zonal vicaries—Flores, Devoto, Belgrano and Centro—which are further subdivided into 20 deaconates.
The archdiocese has eleven suffragan sees, of which nine are Latin:
It also has two Eastern Catholic suffragans :
Buenos Aires was the second largest Catholic city in the world (after Paris)
... BUENOS AYRES second largest Roman Catholic city in the world, the largest Spanish-speaking city in the world...