Transferring primatial see, Pope names new Primate of Argentina
July 22, 2024
Pope Francis has raised the Diocese of Santiago del Estero, Argentina, to the dignity of an archdiocese and has transferred the nation’s primatial see from Buenos Aires to Santiago del Estero.
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Bishop—now Archbishop—Vicente Iglic, CM, of Santiago del Estero thus replaces Archbishop Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva of Buenos Aires as the nation’s Primate. Archbishop Iglic was consecrated auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires by the future Pope Francis in 2010 and appointed bishop of Santiago del Estero in 2014.
In 1936, Pope Pius XI decreed that the Archbishop of Buenos Aires would be the ex officio Primate of Argentina. The archbishops of Buenos Aires and San Estero explained in a joint statement that the nation’s first diocese, established in 1570, had its original cathedral in the territory of what is now the Archdiocese of Santiago del Estero. They described Santiago del Estero as the “mother diocese” of Argentina and the site of the early proclamation of the Gospel there—even though the diocese was formally established only in 1907.
The newly elevated Archdiocese Santiago del Estero will remain a suffragan see of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Tucumán.
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