Popayán (Archdiocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]

Bishop(s)

Omar Alberto Sánchez Cubillos, O.P., Archbishop
Iván Antonio Marín López, Archbishop Emeritus

General Information

Type of Jurisdiction: Archdiocese
Elevated: 20 June 1900
Metropolitan See
Rite: Latin (or Roman)
Country: Colombia
Square Kilometers: 17,308 (6,685 Square Miles)
Mailing Address: Arzobispado, Calle 5 N. 6-71, Popayan, Colombia
Telephone: (2)824.17.10
Fax: 824.01.01

Historical Details

Diocese of Popayán
- Latin Name: Popayanensis
- Erected: 22 August 1546
- Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Bogotá
- Country: Colombia

Past and Present Ordinaries

Juan del Valle † (27 Aug 1546 Appointed - 1563 Died)
Agustín Gormaz (Coruña) Velasco, O.S.A. † (1 Mar 1564 Appointed - 24 Nov 1589 Died)
Domingo de Ulloa, O.P. † (9 Dec 1591 Appointed - 3 Apr 1598 Appointed, Bishop of Michoacán)
Juan de La Roca † (5 Jul 1599 Appointed - 7 Sep 1605 Died)
Juan González de Mendoza, O.S.A. † (17 Nov 1608 Appointed - 14 Feb 1618 Died)
Ambrosio Vallejo Mejía, O. Carm. † (2 Dec 1619 Appointed - 10 Feb 1631 Confirmed, Bishop of Trujillo)
Feliciano de la Vega Padilla † (10 Feb 1631 Appointed - 5 Sep 1633 Appointed, Bishop of La Paz)
Diego Montoya Mendoza † (5 Sep 1633 Appointed - 5 Oct 1637 Confirmed, Bishop of Trujillo)
Francisco de la Serna y Rimaga Salazar, O.E.S.A. † (14 Jun 1638 Appointed - 21 Aug 1645 Confirmed, Bishop of La Paz)
Vasco Jacinto de Contreras y Valverde † (25 Feb 1658 Confirmed - 7 Jun 1666 Appointed, Bishop of Ayacucho o Huamanga (Guamanga))
Melchor de Liñán y Cisneros † (26 Jan 1668 Appointed - 8 Feb 1672 Appointed, Archbishop of La Plata o Charcas)
Bernardo Cristóbal de Quirós † (16 May 1672 Appointed - 11 May 1684 Died)
Pedro Díaz de Cienfuegos † (12 Aug 1686 Appointed - 20 Feb 1696 Appointed, Bishop of Trujillo)
Mateo Panduro y Villafaña, O.C.D. † (18 Jun 1696 Appointed - 1 Oct 1714 Appointed, Bishop of La Paz)
Juan Gómez de Neva y Frías † (19 Nov 1714 Appointed - 19 Nov 1725 Appointed, Bishop of Quito)
Juan Francisco Gómez Calleja † (19 Nov 1725 Appointed - 9 Sep 1728 Resigned)
Manuel Antonio Gómez de Silva † (20 Sep 1728 Confirmed - 29 Sep 1731 Died)
Diego Fermín de Vergara, O.S.A. † (19 Dec 1732 Appointed - 12 Dec 1740 Confirmed, Archbishop of Santafé en Nueva Granada)
Francisco José de Figueredo y Victoria † (30 Jan 1741 Confirmed - 24 Jan 1752 Confirmed, Archbishop of Guatemala)
Diego del Corro † (24 Jan 1752 Confirmed - 13 Mar 1758 Appointed, Archbishop of Lima)
Jerónimo de Obregón y Mena † (13 Mar 1758 Appointed - 14 Jul 1785 Died)
Ángel Velarde y Bustamante † (15 Sep 1788 Confirmed - 6 Jul 1809 Died)
Salvador Jiménez y Padilla † (8 Mar 1816 Appointed - 13 Feb 1841 Died)
Fernando Cuero y Caicedo, O.F.M. Obs. † (23 May 1842 Appointed - 7 Aug 1851 Died)
Pedro Antonio Torres † (20 Dec 1853 Appointed - 18 Dec 1866 Died)
Carlos Bermúdez † (13 Mar 1868 Appointed - 6 Dec 1886 Died)
Juan Buenaventura Ortiz † (1 Jun 1888 Appointed - 15 Aug 1894 Died)
Manuel José Caicedo (Caycedo) Martínez † (2 Dec 1895 Appointed - 14 Dec 1905 Appointed, Archbishop of Medellín)
Manuel Antonio Arboleda y Scarpetta, C.M. † (18 Apr 1907 Appointed - 31 Mar 1923 Died)
Maximiliano Crespo Rivera † (15 Nov 1923 Appointed - 7 Nov 1940 Died)
Juan Manuel González Arbeláez † (20 Jun 1942 Appointed - 1 Feb 1944 Resigned)
Diego María Gómez Tamayo † (22 Apr 1944 Appointed - 12 Sep 1964 Resigned)
Miguel Ángel Arce Vivas † (7 Apr 1965 Appointed - 11 Oct 1976 Resigned)
Samuel Silverio Buitrago Trujillo, C.M. † (11 Oct 1976 Appointed - 11 Apr 1990 Died)
Alberto Giraldo Jaramillo, P.S.S. † (18 Dec 1990 Appointed - 13 Feb 1997 Appointed, Archbishop of Medellín)
Iván Antonio Marín López (19 Apr 1997 Appointed - 19 May 2018 Retired)
Luis José Rueda Aparicio (19 May 2018 Appointed - 25 Apr 2020 Appointed, Archbishop of Bogotá)
Omar Alberto Sánchez Cubillos, O.P. (12 Oct 2020 Appointed - )

Historical Summary

Date	Event	From	To
Diocese of Popayán
22 August 1546	Erected	Diocese of Panamá	Diocese of Popayán (erected)
22 March 1564	Metropolitan Changed		Diocese of Cartagena (to Santafé en Nueva Granada) Diocese of Popayán (from Lima to Santafé en Nueva Granada)
28 May 1803	Territory Lost	Diocese of Ayacucho o Huamanga (Guamanga) Diocese of Cuenca Archdiocese of Lima Diocese of Popayán Diocese of Quito Diocese of Trujillo	Diocese of Maynas (erected)
31 August 1804	Territory Lost	Diocese of Cartagena Diocese of Popayán Archdiocese of Santafé en Nueva Granada	Diocese of Antioquía (erected)
10 April 1859	Territory Lost	Diocese of Popayán	Diocese of Pasto (erected)
1894	Territory Lost	Diocese of Popayán Archdiocese of Santafé en Nueva Granada	Diocese of Tolima (erected)
Archdiocese of Popayán
20 June 1900	Elevated	Diocese of Popayán	Archdiocese of Popayán
7 June 1910	Territory Lost	Archdiocese of Popayán	Diocese of Cali (erected)
13 May 1921	Territory Lost	Archdiocese of Popayán	Prefecture Apostolic of Tierradentro (erected)
17 December 1952	Territory Lost	Diocese of Cali (Buga, San Pedro, Tuluá, Andalucía, Bugalagrande, Sevilla, and Caicedonia) Archdiocese of Popayán (Florida, Candelaria, Pradera, Palmira, Cerrito, Guacarí, and Ginebra)	Diocese of Palmira (erected)
21 May 1954	Territory Lost	Archdiocese of Popayán (Part of Robles in El Valle)	Diocese of Cali
23 September 1964	Territory Lost	Archdiocese of Popayán (EI Rosario, Taminango, La Union, Colon o Genova, San Pablo, San Lorenzo, Arboleda o Berruecos, and La Cruz) Vicariate Apostolic of Sibundoy (El Encano)	Diocese of Pasto

Year Catholics Total Population Percent Catholic Diocesan Priests Religious Priests Total Priests Catholics Per Priest Permanent Deacons Male Religious Female Religious Parishes Source

Archdiocese of Popayán

1950 650,000 650,500 99.9% 95 29 124 5,241 94 399 54 ap1951

1966 450,000 500,000 90.0% 82 8 90 5,000 26 258 49 ap1967

1970 620,800 629,000 98.7% 68 21 89 6,975 46 225 50 ap1971

1976 555,000 620,000 89.5% 65 24 89 6,235 53 465 56 ap1977

1980 740,452 797,151 92.9% 57 22 79 9,372 47 417 58 ap1981

1990 735,000 749,000 98.1% 57 40 97 7,577 3 70 346 59 ap1991

1999 1,044,927 1,080,567 96.7% 84 40 124 8,426 5 69 320 68 ap2000

2000 1,015,742 1,098,099 92.5% 88 35 123 8,258 4 63 320 70 ap2001

2001 1,082,957 1,128,080 96.0% 88 32 120 9,024 4 62 388 70 ap2002

2002 1,097,608 1,143,500 96.0% 116 32 148 7,416 4 55 388 74 ap2003

2003 1,112,259 1,165,500 95.4% 104 36 140 7,944 4 63 400 75 ap2004

2004 1,100,000 1,160,071 94.8% 102 47 149 7,382 4 70 331 76 ap2005

2013 1,288,000 1,312,000 98.2% 104 37 141 9,134 15 52 281 85 ap2014

2016 1,169,000 1,295,000 90.3% 114 30 144 8,118 22 40 295 90 ap2017

2019 979,450 1,114,300 87.9% 119 25 144 6,801 22 35 244 92 ap2020

2021 1,015,580 1,155,900 87.9% 117 25 142 7,151 27 35 244 92 ap2022

Year	Catholics	Total Population	Percent Catholic	Diocesan Priests	Religious Priests	Total Priests	Catholics Per Priest	Permanent Deacons	Male Religious	Female Religious	Parishes	Source
Archdiocese of Popayán
1950	650,000	650,500	99.9%	95	29	124	5,241		94	399	54	ap1951
1966	450,000	500,000	90.0%	82	8	90	5,000		26	258	49	ap1967
1970	620,800	629,000	98.7%	68	21	89	6,975		46	225	50	ap1971
1976	555,000	620,000	89.5%	65	24	89	6,235		53	465	56	ap1977
1980	740,452	797,151	92.9%	57	22	79	9,372		47	417	58	ap1981
1990	735,000	749,000	98.1%	57	40	97	7,577	3	70	346	59	ap1991
1999	1,044,927	1,080,567	96.7%	84	40	124	8,426	5	69	320	68	ap2000
2000	1,015,742	1,098,099	92.5%	88	35	123	8,258	4	63	320	70	ap2001
2001	1,082,957	1,128,080	96.0%	88	32	120	9,024	4	62	388	70	ap2002
2002	1,097,608	1,143,500	96.0%	116	32	148	7,416	4	55	388	74	ap2003
2003	1,112,259	1,165,500	95.4%	104	36	140	7,944	4	63	400	75	ap2004
2004	1,100,000	1,160,071	94.8%	102	47	149	7,382	4	70	331	76	ap2005
2013	1,288,000	1,312,000	98.2%	104	37	141	9,134	15	52	281	85	ap2014
2016	1,169,000	1,295,000	90.3%	114	30	144	8,118	22	40	295	90	ap2017
2019	979,450	1,114,300	87.9%	119	25	144	6,801	22	35	244	92	ap2020
2021	1,015,580	1,155,900	87.9%	117	25	142	7,151	27	35	244	92	ap2022