Metropolitan Archdiocese of Seville Archidioecesis Metropolitae Hispalensis Archidiócesis Metropolitano de Sevilla
Seville Cathedral
Location
Country	Spain
Ecclesiastical province	Seville
Statistics
Area	14,036 km2 (5,419 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2010) 1,900,224 1,890,000 (99.5%)
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	3rd Century (As Diocese of Seville) 4th Century (As Archdiocese of Seville)
Cathedral	Cathedral of St Mary in Seville
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Metropolitan Archbishop	José Ángel Saiz Meneses
Suffragans	Diocese of Cádiz and Ceuta Diocese of San Cristóbal de La Laguna Diocese of Canarias Diocese of Córdoba Diocese of Huelva Diocese of Jerez de la Frontera
Bishops emeritus	Juan Asenjo Pelegrina
Map
Website
Website of the Archdiocese

The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Seville (Latin: Archidioecesis Metropolitae Hispalensis) is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Seville, Spain. The Diocese of Seville was founded in the 3rd century. It was raised to the level of an archdiocese in the 4th century. The current archbishop is José Ángel Saiz Meneses. It has the suffragan dioceses of:

• Cádiz y Ceuta
• Córdoba
• Huelva
• Canaries
• Jerez de la Frontera
• San Cristóbal de La Laguna o Tenerife

Early history

During Roman times Seville was the capital of the Province of Baetica, and the origin of the diocese goes back to apostolic times, or at least to the 1st century. Saint Gerontius, Bishop of Italica, preached in Baetica, and without doubt must have left a pastor of its own to Seville. It is certain that in 303, when Saints Justa and Rufina were martyred for refusing to adore a pagan idol, there was a Bishop of Seville named Sabinus, who assisted at the Council of Illiberis in 287.

Zeno (472–486) was appointed vicar apostolic by Pope Simplicius, and Pope Hormisdas gave the same charge to Bishop Sallustius in the provinces of Baetica and Lusitania. However, the see was rendered illustrious above all by the holy brothers Saints Leander and Isidore. The former of these contributed to the conversion of Saint Hermengild and Recared, and presided at the Third Council of Toledo in 589. While the latter presided at the Fourth Council of Toledo and was the teacher of medieval Spain.

The king's son Philip was appointed Archbishop of Seville, while he was given as coadjutor the Dominican Raimundo de Losada, Bishop of Segovia, who became archbishop five years later, on the abdication of the Infante. In addition to the cathedral chapter, another community of clerics was formed to sing the Divine Office in the Chapel Royal of Our Lady of the Kings (Nuestra Senora de los Reyes) about 1252.

Most of the other mosques of the city were converted into churches, but Santa María la Blanca, Santa Cruz, and San Bartolome were left to the Jews for synagogues. The cathedral originated in the great mosque which was the work of the emirs who built the Aljama mosque, rebuilt in 1171 by the Almohad emir, Yusuf-ben Yacub. The famous tower called the Giralda is due to Almanzor. In order to secure the liturgical orientation, when the mosque was converted into a cathedral its width was made the length of the new church; and it was divided into two parts, the lesser part, on the cast, being separated from the rest by a balustrade and grating, to form the chapel royal.

List of bishops and archbishops of Seville

1300 to 1500

• Juan Almoravid (9 Jun 1300 Appointed – 1303 Died)^[2]
• Fernando Gutiérrez Tello (12 April 1304 – 23 April 1323)^[3] – led Castilian forces at the Siege of Gibraltar
• Juan Sánchez (April 1323 – after 23 November 1348)
• Nuño de Fuentes (1349–1361) – Convoked a provincial council in 1352.
• Alonso de Toledo y Vargas (13 October 1362 – 27 December 1366) – Formerly the bishop of Badajoz and Osmo.
• Pedro Gómez Álvarez de Albornoz (23 March 1369 – 1371) – Previously bishop of Sigüenza, Coimbra and Lisbon. Named Cardinal by Gregory XI in 1371 (First from Seville).
• Fernando Álvarez de Albornoz (9 Jun 1371 – 2 Jul 1374 Died)^[4]
• Pedro Gómez Barroso (1379–1390) – Formerly an abbot of Colegiata de Valladolid. Related to previous Archbishop.
• 1390–1393 seat vacant
• Gonzalo Mena Roelas (28 January 1393 – 21 April 1401)^[5] – Previously bishop of Calahorra y de Burgos, founded Monastery of Santa Maria de las Cuevas.
• Pedro de Luna y Albornoz (1401–1403)
• Alonso de Exea (1403–1417) – Formerly bishop of Ávila and Zamora. Named an Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
• Diego de Anaya Maldonado (1418–1431) – Previously bishop of Tuy, Orense, Salamanca and Cuenca.
• Lope de Olmedo (1431–1433)
• Juan de Cerezuela y Urazandi (1433–1435) – Became Archbishop of Toledo in 1435.
• Diego de Anaya Maldonado (November 1435–26 September 1437) – Second time.
• Gutierre Álvarez de Toledo y Alba (1438–1442) – Lord of Alba de Tormes.
• García Enríquez Osorio (1442–1448) – Bishop of Oviedo.
• Juan de Cervantes (1448 – 9 November 1453) – Previously bishop of Ávila, Ostia and Segovia, participated in the Council of Florence. Whilst in Rome, his secretary would become the future pope. Named Cardinal by Pope Martin V.
• Alonso de Fonseca y Ulloa (1454–1465)^[6]
• Alonso de Fonseca y Acevedo (1465–1469)^[7]
• Alonso de Fonseca y Ulloa (1469–1473)^[6]
• Pietro Riario (1473–1474)
• Pedro González de Mendoza (1474–1482), El Gran Cardenal de España
• Iñigo Manrique de Lara (archbishop) (15 January 1483 – Apr 1485)^[8]
• Diego Hurtado de Mendoza y Quiñones (26 August 1485 – 14 October 1502)

Auxiliary bishops

References

External links

• Archidiócesis de Sevilla
• Centro de Estudios Teológicos de Sevilla
• "Archdiocese of Seville". Catholic Hierarchy.^{[self-published]}
• "Metropolitan Archdiocese of Sevilla". GCatholic.^{[self-published]}