Diocese of Ciudad Real
Civitatis Regalen(sis)
Suffragan diocese · Latin Church · Ciudad Real, Spain
Latin-rite diocese in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain, established on 18 November 1875 as the Territorial Prelature of Ciudad Real for the Grand Prior of the Spanish Military Orders and promoted to diocese on 4 February 1980; its bishop remains prior of the Military Orders. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Toledo, seated at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Meadows (Santa Maria del Prado) in Ciudad Real. Bishop Abilio Martinez Varea, previously of Osma-Soria, was appointed by Pope Leo XIV on 9 July 2025 and took possession on 27 September 2025.
The see
- Rank
- Suffragan diocese
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 1875
- Latin
- Civitatis Regalen(sis)
- Patron
- santo Tomás de Villanueva
- Annuario code
- 001001169
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 493,060
- Population
- 500,060
- Catholic share
- 98.6%
- Priests
- 192
- Catholics per priest
- 2,568
- Extent
- 19,813 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 25
of the people living within its bounds
Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.
The bishop
- Bishop
- Abilio Martinez Varea
- Born
- 24 September 1948
- Birthplace
- Cervatos de la Cueza
A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.
The cathedral
Cathedral Basilica of Santa Maria del Prado, Ciudad Real stands in Ciudad Real, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.
On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.
The province of Toledo
A suffragan of Archdiocese of Toledo.
The sees of this province:
- Diocese of AlbaceteAlbacete
- Diocese of CuencaCuenca
- Diocese of Sigüenza-GuadalajaraSigüenza-Guadalajara
- Archdiocese of ToledoToledo
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
Ciudad Real is home to a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church, the Diocese of Ciudad Real (Latin: Dioecesis Civitatis Regalensis), which belongs to the ecclesiastical province of Toledo in Spain.
What is kept by invitation
The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.
The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.
Sources
The see's own website · Wikipedia
This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].