PUERTO RICO

The smallest and most easterly of the Greater Antilles, Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States. Located 885 miles southeast of Florida, the island is characterized by mountainous terrain dropping to coastal plains in the north. Sandy beaches circle much of the island, combining with the region's mild climate to create a landscape inviting to tourists. Natural resources include copper and nickel, as well as the possibility of coastal oil reserves. Puerto Rico relied for centuries on agriculture for its economic stability; sugar was raised along the coast and coffee, tobacco and starchy vegetables in the mountains. After 1949 the Industrial Development Company, a government agency, encouraged U.S. investment in the region and by 2000 Puerto Rico's exports included pharmaceuticals, electronics, rum and apparel. San Juan is one of the Caribbean's largest natural harbors.

Early History. Originally inhabited by the Arawak, Puerto Rico was discovered by Columbus on his second voyage, Nov. 16, 1493, and named San Juan de Borinquén. Juan Ponce de León, searching for gold, founded a settlement at Caparra in 1598 and the following November took possession of Puerto Rico in the name of the King of Spain, becoming its governor. Spanish missionaries entered the region shortly thereafter, working from

the new capital city of San Juan. On Aug. 6, 1511, Puerto Rico was made an episcopal see as a suffragan of Seville, Spain, and Father Alonso Manso became the first bishop. Jurisdiction would eventually pass from Seville to Santiago, Cuba.

Within half a century the Arawaks had become extinct due to forced labor and disease, the gold mines were exhausted. The Spanish residents petitioned to leave, but were forced to remain on the island by the Spanish government. By 1600 sugar and tobacco plantations prospered, owned by Spaniards and worked by African slaves. The 17th century witnessed the origins of the island's most famous place of pilgrimage: the church of Nuestra Señora de Monserrate in the town of Hormigueros. This shrine owed its existence to alleged apparitions visited upon the daughter of Giraldo González. While lost for two weeks, the young girl was fed by the Blessed Mother, allowing her to survive until her father found her. In about 1640 Giraldo built a chapel in the parish of San German to commemorate his daughter's visions; after his wife died he donned the robes of a priest and tended the chapel.

Still under the influence of the Spanish Church, the jurisdiction of the Diocese of San Juan was restricted to the island proper in 1791, but in 1903 it was separated from Cuba and made immediately subject to the Holy See. The Diocese of Ponce was separated from San Juan in 1924, and Edwin V. Byrne was named the first bishop. In 1960 the present hierarchy was established: the Diocese of Arecibo was established under Bishop Alfred Mendez and on April 30, San Juan was made an archdiocese with James P. Davis its first archbishop. Four years later the Diocese of Caguas was created, and Rafael Grovas was consecrated its first bishop. By 1965 the jurisdiction of San Juan had expanded to include the islands of Culebra and Vieques off the eastern coast. The diocese of Mayagüez was established in 1976.

Into the 21st Century. In 1821 Spain withdrew its protection from Puerto Rico, as the island was no longer of strategic importance. The region gained home rule under Spanish hegemony until 1898 when the United States gained the island at the close of the Spanish-American War. In 1917 the Jones Act declared all inhabitants of Puerto Rico to be statutory U.S. citizens, although they were not extended the right to vote in U.S. elections. Through the constitution of July 25, 1952 the island was declared a commonwealth. Although efforts were made to make Puerto Rico the 51st of the United States, a vote in 1993 rejected that option in favor of continued status as a self-governing commonwealth.

By 2000 there were 324 parishes with resident priests in Puerto Rico, maintained by 396 diocesan and 390 religious priests: Salesians, Dominicans, Capuchins, Vincentians, Benedictines, Jesuits, Redemptorists and Marianists. The Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico, located in Ponce, was founded in 1948 and by 1965 contained a college of arts and sciences, a school of education, a school of law, and operated six extensions throughout the island. Religious women maintained over 150 primary and secondary schools, as well as a number of specialized institutions of learning, in addition to operating hospitals, orphanages and homes for the elderly. The Religious of the Sacred Heart operated a small college near San Juan. Two native communities existed, the Hermanas del Buen Pastor and the Hermanas de Fatima.

protestantism grew steadily on the island during the 20th century, with the most active groups Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Disciples of Christ, the United Church of Christ, the Brethren and Jehovah's Witnesses. In addition to watching its influence eroded by active evangelical sects, the Church also had to contend with liberal social attitudes imported from the United States. In 1998 Redemptorist Father Richard Welsh, C.Ss.R., who was also president of Human Life International, fought an unsuccessful battle against abortion rights clinics. A euthanasia bill introduced the same year was, however, successfully defeated through his ability to mobilize Catholic opposition. Pope john paul ii also addressed the trend toward materialism and liberalized values during a meeting with Puerto Rican bishops in 1999. Noting that the commonwealth was in a transitional period, the Pope urged Church leaders to confront "the challenges of a society which is ever more inclined toward secularization," citing as evidence the rising divorce rate and instance of illegitimate births on the island.

Bibliography: a. cuesta mendoza, Historia eclesiástica de Puerto Rico (Santo Domingo 1948–). s. brau, La colonización de Puerto Rico (San Juan 1907).

[m. mccabe/eds.]