Jerónimo de Loayza y González, O.P., was a Spanish Dominican friar and missionary, who was selected as the first Archbishop of Lima. He established the first hospital, initiated construction of the early cathedrals, and also established schools to educate the sons of both the Spanish rulers and Inca elite families. He supported the founding of the University of San Marcos in Lima.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lima is part of the Catholic Church in Peru which enjoys full communion with the Holy See. The Archdiocese was founded as the Diocese of Lima on 14 May 1541. The diocese was raised to the level of a metropolitan archdiocese by Pope Paul III on 12 February 1546. One of its archbishops was the saint Torribio Mogrovejo.