SANTO DOMINGO.- Pope Leo XIV created the new Diocese of Stella Maris in the Dominican Republic, made up of the municipalities of Santo Domingo Este, San Antonio de Guerra and Boca Chica , which were previously part of the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo, appointing Father Manuel Antonio Ruiz de la Rosa as its first bishop.
The episcopal seat will be located in the municipality of Santo Domingo Este , and the Stella Maris Parish has been elevated to the rank of cathedral, becoming the main temple of the new diocese .
Father Manuel Antonio Ruiz de la Rosa was born on August 27, 1965, in Bayaguana, Monte Plata province. He studied philosophy at the Pontifical Catholic University Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) and theology at the Pontifical Seminary of Saint Thomas Aquinas (SPSTA). He was ordained a priest on July 10, 1993.
He holds a doctorate in Humanities from the University of Seville, Spain. He has been a professor at PUCMM, the Catholic University of Santo Domingo (UCSD), and a trainer at SPSTA. He served as liaison between the Executive Branch and the Catholic Church, co-founder of Radio María de la Altagracia (Santo Domingo), and director of Televida Channel 41, as well as the radio stations Radio ABC and Vida FM.
She founded the following projects: Movearte, an evangelization movement through art; Movearte Polytechnic, where the educational model is centered on art and fun; Posada de Belén, a shelter for women at risk of abortion; Vida sobre el Ozama, an initiative that sought to transform the lives of communities on the banks of the Ozama River, among others.
Currently, he is the executive secretary of the National Commission for Life of the Dominican Episcopal Conference (CED), delegate of the CED to the Economic and Social Council (CES), and director of the “Hogar Vida y Esperanza” project, dedicated to abandoned and disabled children.
The diocese
The Diocese of Stella Maris covers an area of 588.87 km² and has a total population of 1,291,516, of whom 943,762 are Catholic. Pastoral care is organized into 64 parishes, served by 40 diocesan priests and 55 religious priests, along with 39 permanent deacons.
Currently there are 12 seminarians in formation, in addition to 12 professed religious and 83 nuns, who collaborate in the pastoral and evangelizing life of the diocese.
