The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of the Blessed Assumption (
Latin: Archidioecesis Sanctissimae Assumptionis) is an ecclesiastical territory or
diocese of the
Roman Catholic Church in
Paraguay.[1][2]
The archdiocese's
mother church and thus seat of its archbishop is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption. As the only metropolitan in Paraguay, it is the principal
episcopal see of that country. As of 2012[update] the
Archbishop of Asunción was
Eustaquio Cuquejo Verga,
CSSR, having been appointed by
Pope John Paul II on June 15, 2002. On Tuesday, November 8, 2011,
Pope Benedict XVI, appointed
BishopEdmundo Valenzuela,
S.D.B., as Coadjutor Archbishop of the Archdiocese. Until then he had served as
Vicar Apostolic of the
Apostolic Vicariate of Chaco Paraguayo, with the ecclesiastical rank of Bishop (Vicariates Apostolic are a type of jurisdiction that rank below a diocese). He was born in
Villarrica of Espiritu Santo, Paraguay, on November 19, 1944. He was ordained to the priesthood on April 3, 1971, as a member of the
Salesians of Don Bosco. He received a
licentiate in
theology from the
Salesian University in
Rome. At one time, he was a missionary in Angola (1991–2006). On February 13, 2006, he was named
Titular Bishop of
Uzal and appointed Vicar Apostolic of Chaco, Paraguay, receiving episcopal ordination on April 22, 2006. As part of the Episcopal Conference of Paraguay, he serves as Chairman of the Commission for Catholic Education. The archdiocese has 1.58 million Catholics (90.6%) in 2012.
Archbishop Valenzuela succeeded to the see on November 6, 2014.