Diocese of Matamoros

Diocese of Matamoros Dioecesis Matamorensis Diócesis de Matamoros
Catedral de Nuestra Señora del Refugio
Location
Country	Mexico
Ecclesiastical province	Province of Monterrey
Metropolitan	Matamoros, Tamaulipas
Statistics
Area	7,515 sq mi (19,460 km2)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2004) 1,850,000 1,665,000 (90%)
Parishes	56
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	16 February 1958 (59 years ago)
Cathedral	Cathedral of Our Lady of Refuge
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Eugenio Andrés Lira Rugarcía
Metropolitan Archbishop	Rogelio Cabrera López
Map
Website
www.diocesisdematamoros.org

The Diocese of Matamoros (Latin: Dioecesis Matamorensis) is a Roman Catholic diocese sufragan to the Archdiocese of Monterrey. It is located in the northeast part of the state of Tamaulipas, along the border with Texas.

When the first Catholic missionaries, de Silva and Puellea, arrived in 1793, this region was under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Diocese of Linares. However, beginning with the first bishop, Fray Antonio de Jesús Sacedón, all bishops had resided in Monterrey.

With Papal Bull "Ad futuram rei memoriam", Pius IX created the Apostolic Vicariate of Tamaulipas, on August 13, 1861, under the pastoral care of Francisco de la Concepción Ramírez.

Less than a decade later on March 12, 1870, Pius IX promulgated Papal Bull "Apostolicam in universas", thereby elevating the Vicariate to diocese with its seat in Ciudad Victoria. Appointed as the first bishop of Tamaulipas was Mons. Ignacio Montes de Oca y Obregón, who had been the personal chaplain to Emperor Maximilian.

In 1922, the episcopal seat was moved by Bishop Jose Guadalupe Ortíz y López from the state capital Ciudad Victoria to Tampico, which had grown to become the largest city in the state. Tampico, located in the far southeast corner of the state, had become Tamaulipas' economic center due to its port, trade and the discovery of oil.

In 1958, Tamaulipas was divided into two dioceses: Matamoros and Tampico.