New archbishop appointed in Archdiocese of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo has a new archbishop: Carlos Tomás Morel Diplán. He succeeds Francisco Ozoria Acosta, whose resignation was accepted by Pope Leo XIV after he reached the episcopal retirement age of 75.

Morel Diplán had been appointed by Pope Leo as coadjutor archbishop of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on Oct. 18, 2025, with the automatic right of succession.

As reported by the Vatican Press Office on Oct. 12 and by mandate of the Holy Father, the new archbishop of Santo Domingo also assumes the office of Military Ordinary of the Dominican Republic, a role previously held by Ozoria.

Ozoria offers Mass of Thanksgiving On Sunday, Oct. 11, Ozoria, now archbishop emeritus of Santo Domingo, offered a Mass of Thanksgiving for his years of episcopal service. He spent 10 of those years serving the primatial see of the Americas, the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo, erected in 1546, the first in the Western Hemisphere.

“I do not cease to be a bishop; I do not cease to be a priest; I am resigning from pastoral governance,” the prelate stated during the Mass in the Santo Domingo cathedral, concelebrated by Morel Diplán and other Dominican prelates, according to the Archdiocese of Santo…