Archdiocese of Seville

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Seville Cathedral
Seville Cathedral

The Archdiocese of Seville is part 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 His Eminence Carlos Cardinal Amigo Vallejo. It has the suffragan dioceses of:

[edit] Early History of the Diocese

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 first century. Saint Gerontius, Bishop of Italica, preached in Baetica apostolic times, and without doubt must have left a pastor of its own to Seville. It is certain that in 303, when Sts. Justa and Rufina, were martyred for refusing to adore the idol Salambo, there was a Bishop of Seville: Sabinus, who assisted at the Council of Iliberis 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 Sts. Leander and Isidore. The former of these contributed to the conversion of St. 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 catheral 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.

[edit] List of Bishops and Archbishops of Seville

  • Leander (579 – 13 March 600)
  • Isidore of the Etymologies (13 March 600 – 4 April 636)
  • Oppas (fl. 711)
  • Juan Zuniga Pimentel (5 May 1503 - 26 Jul 1504)
  • Diego de Deza (1504 - 9 Jun 1523)
  • Juan Cardinal Garcia Loaysa (21 May 1539 - 22 Apr 1546)
  • Fernando Valdes (27 Aug 1546 - 9 Dec 1566)
  • Gaspar Cardinal Zuniga Avellaneda (22 Jun 1569 - 2 Jan 1571)
  • Cristobal Rojas Sandoval (18 May 1571 - 22 Sep 1580)
  • Rodrigo Cardinal de Castro Osorio (20 Oct 1581 - 20 Sep 1600)
  • Fernando Cardinal Nino de Guevara (30 Apr 1601 - 8 Jan 1609)
  • Pedro Castro Quinones (5 Jul 1610 - 20 Dec 1623)
  • Luis Fernández de Cordoba (11 Mar 1624 - 26 Jun 1625)
  • Diego Cardinal Guzman de Haros (15 Sep 1625 - 21 Jan 1631)
  • Gaspar Cardinal de Borja y Velasco (19 Feb 1632 - 16 Jan 1645)
  • Domingo Cardinal Pimentel Zuniga (9 Jul 1641 - 2 Dec 1652)
  • Agustin Cardinal Spinola Basadone (16 Jan 1645 - 12 Feb 1649)
  • Pedro Tapia (23 Sep 1652 - 25 Aug 1657)
  • Pedro Urbina Montoya (1 Apr 1658 - 6 Feb 1663)
  • Pedro de Urbina de Montoya (29 May 1658 - 6 Feb 1663)
  • Antonio Paino Sevilla (4 Jun 1663 - 25 May 1669)
  • Ambrosio Ignacio Spínola y Guzmán (7 Oct 1668 - 24 May 1684)
  • Manuel Arias Porres (3 Apr 1702 - 16 Nov 1717)
  • Felipe Antonio Cardinal Gil Taboada (4 Mar 1720 - 29 Apr 1722)
  • Luis Salcedo Azcona (7 Oct 1722 - 3 May 1739)
  • Francisco Cardinal de Solís Folch de Cardona (17 Nov 1755 - 21 Mar 1776)
  • Francisco Javier Cardinal Delgado Benegas (20 May 1776 - 30 Mar 1778)
  • Alfonso Marcos Llanes (15 Dec 1783 - 7 Jan 1795)
  • Antonio Cardinal Despuig y Dameto (18 Dec 1795 - 30 Jan 1799)
  • Luis María Cardinal de Borbón y Vallabriga (15 Mar 1799 - 22 Dec 1800)
  • vacant


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