Roman Catholic Diocese of Masbate explained

Jurisdiction:Diocese
Border:Catholic
Masbate
Latin:Dioecesis Masbatensis
Local:Diyosesis san Masbate
Diyosesis ng Masbate
Diócesis de Masbate
Coat:Diocese of Masbate coat of arms.svg
Coat Size:150px
Country:Philippines
Metropolitan:Caceres
Territory:Masbate
Province:Caceres
Coordinates:12.3688°N 123.6189°W
Area Km2:7,000
Population:983,172
Population As Of:2021
Catholics:917,532[1]
Catholics Percent:93.3
Parishes:35
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Sui Iuris Church:Latin Church
Rite:Roman Rite
Established:March 23, 1968 (created), September 25, 1968 (canonically erected)
Cathedral:Saint Anthony of Padua Cathedral
Patron:Anthony of Padua
Priests:60
Bishop:José S. Bantolo
Metro Archbishop:Archbishop-Elect Rex Andrew Alarcon
Vicar General:Eusebio Llonoso
Map:Diocese_of_Masbate.png
Footnotes:Statistics from Catholic-Hierarchy.org

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Masbate (Latin: Dioecesis Masbatensis) is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. The seat of the bishop is the Cathedral Parish of Saint Anthony of Padua along Quezon Street, Masbate City.

The diocese has experienced no jurisdictional changes and is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Cáceres. Its patron is Saint Anthony of Padua.

History

With the other provinces of Bicol, Masbate once belonged to the Archdiocese of Cáceres. When Cáceres was elevated to the status of an archdiocese on June 29, 1951, Masbate became part of the newly erected Diocese of Sorsogon. Pope Paul VI created the Diocese of Masbate on March 23, 1968. It was formally inaugurated on September 25, 1968, with Porfírio Rivera Iligan, a priest from the Archdiocese of Cáceres, as its first bishop.

Ordinaries

!No!Name!In office!Coat of arms
1.Bishop Porfirio R. IliganJune 17, 1968 – February 14, 1998
2.Bishop Joel Z. Baylon February 14, 1998 – October 1, 2009 appointed Bishop of Legazpi
2.Bishop José S. Bantolo June 15, 2011 – present

Vicars-general

The vicar-general assists the bishop in the administrative duties over the diocese. The offices of the vicar general and the episcopal vicars temporarily ceased upon the vacancy of the episcopal see.

See also

Resources

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Masbate (Catholic Diocese). gcatholic.org. 2023-09-11.