Establishment of the patronato de San Rafael, march 10, 1958: an historic document signed by the Dominican Republic and the Catholic church to banefit the material, cultural and educational welfare of the dominican frontier

Abstract

Few countries of the world enjoy such a unique and cióse relationship with the Vatican as does the Dominican Republic, a Caribbean nation whose baptism dates back to the voyage of Columbus. It was here the ñrst Mass was celebrated in the New World, the first cathedral erected and the first monastery built. Under the tutelege of Bartolomé de las Casas, Columbus' saintly chaplain, the infant nation, as Spain’s brightest jewel in the Indies, was firmly grounded in the teachings of the Catholic faith. The oldest university in the Western Hemisphere, the University of Santo Domingo, was established here by Papal Bull in 1538.