Apostolic Delegation to Puerto Rico

The Apostolic Delegation to Puerto Rico represents the interests of the Holy See in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Its head is titled the Apostolic Delegate. His position is ecclesiastical, not diplomatic.

The papacy has used a series of representatives and territorial structures to manage its affairs in Puerto Rico and in the Caribbean region generally. It began in 1898 with a delegation that was based in Havana and assigned responsibility for Cuba and Puerto Rico. On 7 December 1925, Pope Pius XI replaced that with the Apostolic Delegation to the Antilles, still seated in Havana, with responsibility for the Greater and Lesser Antilles.[1]

The Holy See overhauled that arrangement in 1938. It recognized that no one individual could be expected visit the remote locations of the Antilles by boat, and it determined to use its existing network of papal representations in the region, including the Apostolic Nunciature to Cuba established in September 1935.[2] On 10 August 1938, the Holy See suppressed the Delegation to the Antilles and divided responsibility for the region among several nunciatures and delegations. Puerto Rico was assigned to the Nunciatures to the Dominican Republic and to Haiti, two offices then headed jointly by a single diplomat.[lower-alpha 1][3] The structure was unusual in that the Holy See was normally particular as to titles and areas of responsibility. Puerto Rico then disappeared from the Holy See's announcement of diplomatic postings and was not even mentioned when the two nunciatures responsible for Puerto Rico were assigned to two different diplomats beginning in 1953.[lower-alpha 2]

On 19 March 1975, Pope Paul VI established the Delegation to the Antilles once again, initially based in Port-au-Prince.[6] Puerto Rico was only named again in announcements of diplomatic assignments in the 21st century.