Archdiocese of Caceres Celebrates 70th Anniversary
On June 29, 2021, the Archdiocese of Caceres will celebrate its 70th year as a Metropolitan See. In thanksgiving, a concelebrated Mass will be streamed live from the Metropolitan Cathedral at 6:30 in the morning.
After 356 years of being a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Manila, Caceres was elevated as an Archdiocese, becoming the Metropolitan See with suffragans dioceses in the Bicol Region, namely the dioceses of Legazpi, Sorsogon, later on Masbate (1968), Virac (1974), Daet (1974) and Libmanan (1990). A metropolitan see is the chief diocese of an ecclesiastical province. Suffragan dioceses are those that also compose the province.
The Diocese of Cáceres was established as a suffragan of Manila on August 14, 1595. This was by virtue of the Papal Bull Super specula militantis ecclesiae issued by Clement VIII. The diocese extended over the provinces of Camarines and Albay as far as and including the islands of Ticao, Masbate, Burias and Catanduanes; the province of Tayabas as far as and including Lucban; and, in the contracosta of Mauban to Binangonan, Polo, Baler and Casiguran.
The official name given to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction is Ecclesia Cacerensis in Indiis Orientalius. The name was taken from Nueva Cáceres (now Naga City), also indicated as the seat of the diocese. Friar Luís de Maldonado, OFM was appointed the first bishop of the Diocese of Cáceres. It was elevated to the status of archdiocese on June 29, 1951 by virtue of the papal bull Quo in Philippine Republica by Pope Pius XII. The papal bull also created the first two suffragan sees of Caceres —the Dioceses of Legazpi and Sorsogon.
At present, the Archdiocese supervises 93 Parishes. As of 2017, Caceres has a Catholic population of 1,526,975. Archbishop Rolando J. Tria Tirona, OCD, DD is the 34th Bishop and 4th Archbishop of Caceres.
The seat of the Archdiocese is currently located in Naga City, known as the Queen City of Bicol. The Archdiocese is also the home of the three centuries-old miraculous image of Our Lady of Peñafrancia.
The faithful can join the Mass through the Archdiocese of Caceres fb page on June 29, 6:30 in the morning.