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Archdiocese of Lipa Archidioecesis Lipaensis Arkidiyosesis ng Lipa Arquidiócesis de Lipa
Coat of arms
Location
Country	Philippines
Territory	Batangas
Ecclesiastical province	Lipa
Statistics
Area	3,165 km (1,222 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2018) 3,225,950 3,073,400 (95.3%)
Parishes	64
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	10 April 1910 (Diocese), 20 June 1972 (Archdiocese)
Cathedral	Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Sebastian
Patron saint	Joseph the Patriarch (Primary Patron) Our Lady of Caysasay (Titular Queen of the Archdiocese) Sebastian (Patron Saint of Lipa City)
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Archbishop	Gilbert Armea Garcera
Suffragans	Marcelino Antonio M. Maralit Jr. (Boac) Victor C. Ocampo (Gumaca) Bernardino Cruz Cortez (Infanta) Mel Rey M. Uy (Lucena)
Vicar General	Msgr. Ruben M. Dimaculangan
Judicial Vicar	Rev. Fr. Wilfredo Rosales
Bishops emeritus	Ramon Cabrera Arguelles (Archbishop Emeritus)
Map
Jurisdiction of the metropolitan see within the Philippines.
Website
Website of the Diocese

The Archdiocese of Lipa is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the Philippines comprising the civil province of Batangas. Its cathedral is the Cathedral of Lipa located in the episcopal see of Lipa. First created in 1910 from the Archdiocese of Manila, the diocese was elevated into its present status in 1972. Today, the Archdiocese of Lipa's ecclesiastical province covers Batangas and suffragan territories in the civil provinces of Quezon, Marinduque, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro and Aurora. The archdiocese itself is divided into 14 vicariates further comprising a total of 64 parishes.

History

Creation

The Diocese of Lipa was created on April 10, 1910, separating it from that of Manila under the supervision of Pope Pius X and with Giuseppe Petrelli as its first bishop. The diocese then covered the provinces of Batangas, Laguna, Tayabas (now Quezon, Marinduque, and Aurora), and Mindoro (now Occidental Mindoro and Oriental Mindoro). There were initially very few priests for the large diocese.

Petrelli invited different Roman Catholic religious institutes to come to his diocese and help minister to the spiritual needs of the faithful. He also conceived the building of a seminary in the diocese. In June 1914 a diocesan seminary was built in Bauan, which was later transferred to San Pablo in Laguna. This initiative of the first bishop was continued by the next bishop, Alfredo Verzosa, the diocese's first Filipino bishop, who served a long term from 1916 to 1950. He invited priests from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul to help in the administration of the new seminary.

On July 2, 1936, Mindoro was separated and came under the jurisdiction of the Apostolic Prefecture of Calapan. On March 28, 1950, Lucena became a diocese of its own covering the southern portion of Quezon and Marinduque. About a month later on April 25, the Prelature of Infanta was created, comprising the remaining part of Quezon, including the Polillo Islands and what is now the province of Aurora.

In 1950, Rufino Santos took over the diocese. Described as a financial administrator of great acumen, Santos applied for bank loans to help construct some buildings. This way he continued the construction work of the Lipa Cathedral and built a major seminary beside it.

The Diocese of San Pablo was separated on November 28, 1966, seated in the city of San Pablo and becoming a suffragan of Manila. This left the Diocese of Lipa covering only the province of Batangas.

Elevation into an archdiocese

With the departure of Santos for the Archdiocese of Manila came a young bishop, Alejandro Olalia, who stayed with the diocese from 1953 to 1973. It was during his term that the Diocese of Lipa, on June 20, 1972, became the country's tenth archdiocese and ecclesiastical province by order of Pope Paul VI. This same order elevated Olalia to the rank of archbishop on August 15, 1972.

Olalia died in 1973 and was replaced by Bishop Ricardo J. Vidal who stayed with the diocese until 1981. During his incumbency Vidal organized the Pastoral Council, and initiated the construction of the Lipa Archdiocesan Formation Center.

Vidal was replaced in 1981 by Bishop Mariano Gaviola, who stayed with the diocese from 1981 to 1993. He was at the helm of the archdiocese as it celebrated its 75th anniversary and on March 19, 1993, the reins of the archdiocese were again transferred, this time to Bishop Gaudencio Rosales, a native of Batangas City. He was ordained priest in Lipa in 1958, became Auxiliary Bishop of Manila in 1974, served as bishop in Malaybalay in 1982, and on December 30, 1992 he was elected Archbishop of Lipa. Rosales founded Aral Batangueño and the small giving foundation Pondong Batangan.

With the resignation of Cardinal Jaime Sin in 2003, Rosales was chosen by Pope John Paul II to be the Manila's new prelate, leaving the See of Lipa under the apostolic administration of its Auxiliary Bishop Jose Paala Salazar (d. 30 May 2004). On May 14, 2004, Pope John Paul II appointed Bishop Ramon Cabrera Arguelles of the Military Ordinariate of the Philippines, another native of Batangas City as the fifth Archbishop of Lipa.

In his 13 years in office, Arguelles canonically erected new parishes in Lipa City, Lemery, Taysan, Tanauan City and Batangas City and organized Marian events such as the annual Taal Lake Marian Regatta and National Days of Prayer in Lipa, both held every September. He is a strong opponent of the passage of RH Law, the operation of motorist lodges in the province, the possible mining activities in the municipality of Lobo, and the construction of a coal-fire power plant in Batangas City. He also led the establishment of a local election watchdog separate from the Church-based PPCRV.

Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Argüelles on February 2, 2017 and then appointed Bishop Gilbert Garcera, the Bishop of the Diocese of Daet, Camarines Norte as its sixth Archbishop and eighth Local Ordinary.

Coat of arms

The cross and arrows are symbols of Saint Sebastian the Martyr, patron of the cathedral. The two white long-stemmed lilies are symbols of Saint Joseph, head of the Holy Family, to whom the faithful of the diocese are ardently devoted. The bottom of the shield shows the lake and volcano of Taal in Batangas.

Organization

The archdiocese has jurisdiction over the Catholic faithful in the province of Batangas. The province's land area is 3,165 square kilometers (1,222 sq mi) and the population as of the 1994 census is 1,668,480 of which 99.5 per cent are Catholics. The archdiocese also has general supervision over the suffragan dioceses and territorial prelatures for the provinces of Quezon and Marinduque.

The archdiocese is divided into 14 vicariates, each headed by a vicar forane. Except for the parishes in the 4th district of Batangas (excluding Taysan) which are run by the Oblates of St. Joseph, all other parishes are run by the diocesan clergy. There are 64 parishes in all, served by 143 priests. 122 of them diocesan. There are 13 religious brothers, and 197 religious sisters. Catholic schools number 23, high school seminaries 2 and college seminaries 3. Two pastoral centers are being maintained.

Suffragan dioceses

• Diocese of Boac
• Diocese of Gumaca
• Diocese of Lucena
• Prelature of Infanta

Archbishop

The seat of the Archbishop is in Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Sebastian. The

archbishop is also overseer of several suffragan dioceses of Lipa.

List of Archbishops of Lipa

No.	Picture	Name	From	Until	Notes
1		Giuseppe Petrelli	April 12, 1910	March 30, 1915	Appointed as the first Bishop of the Diocese of Lipa; later appointed as Apostolic Delegate to the Philippines
2		Alfredo Florentin Versoza	September 6, 1916	February 25, 1951	Retired from office
3		Alejandro Ayson Olalia	December 28, 1953	January 2, 1973	Elevated to the rank of Archbishop when Lipa became an Archdiocese on 20 June 1972; died in office
4		Ricardo Jamin Vidal	August 22, 1973	April 13, 1981	Later appointed Archbishop of Cebu, and Cardinal
5		Mariano Garces Gaviola	April 13, 1981	December 13, 1992	Retired from office
6		Gaudencio Borbon Rosales	December 13, 1992	September 25, 2003	Later appointed Archbishop of Manila, and Cardinal
7		Ramon Cabrera Arguelles	May 14, 2004	February 2, 2017	Retired from office
8		Gilbert Armea Garcera	February 2, 2017	present

Auxiliary bishops

• Alfredo Maria Aranda Obviar: March 11, 1944 Appointed - November 4, 1950 Appointed Bishop of Lucena
• Salvador Quizon Quizon: June 9, 1979 Appointed - April 6, 2002 Retired
• Buenaventura Malayo Famadico: April 6, 2002 Appointed - June 11, 2003 Appointed Bishop of Gumaca
• Jose Paala Salazar: June 11, 2003 Appointed - May 30, 2004 Died

Vision

On August 18, 1995 after much review, and meetings presided over by Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales himself, the archdiocese's vision was conceived:

A people of God called by the Father in Jesus Christ to be communities of totally developed human persons in the world, witnessing to the Kingdom of God by living the Paschal Mystery in the power of the Holy Spirit.

In the News

On April 10, 2010, the Archdiocese of Lipa celebrated the 100th anniversary of its elevation as a diocese by launching the coffee table book, A Century of Faith: The Local Church of Lipa. The event was held at the historic Basilica of St. Martin of Tours in Taal, Batangas.

See also

• Roman Catholicism in the Philippines

References

1. "Pope Francis names new archbishop of Lipa". 3 February 2017.
2. admin. "Pondong Batangan Community Foundation, Inc". Impact.ph. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
3. "Rinunce e nomine". press.vatican.va. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
4. Madriaga, Mariano (1957). "The Coats-of-Arms of the Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions in the Philippines: Part II. The Suffragan Sees in the Luzon Area". Philippine Studies. 5 (4): 420–430. JSTOR 42719342. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
5. "A Hundred Years' Journey in Faith," Starweek Magazine, July 8, 2012

External links

• CBCP Article on the Archdiocese of Lipa
• Archdiocese of Lipa Official Website

v t e Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lipa
Archidioecesis Lipaensis
Territories	Batangas
Ordinaries	Giuseppe Petrelli Alfredo Verzosa Alejandro Olalia Ricardo Vidal Mariano Gaviola Gaudencio Rosales Ramon Arguelles Gilbert Garcera
Cathedral	Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian
Basilicas	Immaculate Conception Taal
Shrines	National Padre Pio Archdiocesan Calaca Cuenca Glorious Cross Ibaan Lian Our Lady of Caysasay Saint Anthony of Padua Saint Vincent Ferrer San Jose Santa Teresita Santo Niño de Batangan
Parishes	Vicariate of St. Francis Xavier St. Francis Xavier (Nasugbu, Batangas) Sto. Domingo de Silos (Calatagan, Batangas) St. John the Baptist (Lian, Batangas) St. Vincent Ferrer (Tuy, Batangas) Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje (Nasugbu, Batangas) Vicariate of Immaculate Conception Immaculate Conception (Balayan, Batangas) St. Raphael the Archangel (Calaca, Batangas) Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Lemery, Batangas) St. Anthony of Padua (Nasugbu, Batangas) Vicariate of St. Roche St. Nicholas of Tolentino (San Nicolas, Batangas) Our Mother of Perpetual Help (Agoncillo, Batangas) Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal (Agoncillo, Batangas) St. Roch (Lemery, Batangas) Mahal na Poon ng Banal na Krus (Lemery, Batangas) Vicariate of Our Lady of Caysasay St. Martin of Tours (Taal, Batangas) San Isidro Labrador (San Luis, Batangas) Invencion de la Sta. Cruz (Alitagtag, Batangas) San Isidro Labrador (Cuenca, Batangas) St. Therese of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face (Sta. Teresita, Batangas) Vicariate of St. Francis of Paola St. Francis of Paola (Mabini, Batangas) St. Roche Parish (Tingloy, Batangas) Holy Family (Bauan, Batangas) Vicariate of Holy Cross Immaculate Conception (Bauan, Batangas) Our Mother of Perpetual Help (Bauan, Batangas) St. Mary Magdalene (San Pascual, Batangas) San Paschal Baylon (San Pascual, Batangas) Vicariate of Sto. Niño Immaculate Conception (Batangas City) St. Mary Euphrasia (Batangas City) Most Holy Trinity (Batangas City) Sta. Rita de Cascia (Batangas City) St. Isidore (Batangas City) Vicariate of St. Michael the Archangel San Lorenzo Ruiz (Taysan, Batangas) Nuestra Senora de la Merced (Taysan, Batangas) St. Michael the Archangel (Batangas City) St. Paul the Apostle (Batangas City) St. Michael the Archangel (Lobo, Batangas) Vicariate of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Our Lady of the Holy Rosary (Rosario, Batangas) Holy Family (Rosario, Batangas) San Juan Nepomuceno (San Juan, Batangas) Most Holy Rosary (Padre Garcia, Batangas) Vicariate of St. Joseph the Patriarch St. Joseph the Patriarch (San Jose, Batangas) St. James the Greater (Ibaan, Batangas) St. Anthony of Padua (Lipa, Batangas) Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage (Lipa, Batangas) Vicariate of St. Vincent Ferrer Sto. Niño Pinatong-ulan (Lipa, Batangas) Immaculate Conception (Mataas na Kahoy, Batangas) Divina Pastora (Lipa, Batangas) St. Vincent Ferrer (Lipa, Batangas) Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje (Balete, Batangas) Vicariate of St. Sebastian St. Sebastian (Lipa, Batangas) Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace (Lipa, Batangas) Sto. Niño Marawoy (Lipa, Batangas) St. Therese of the Child Jesus (Lipa, Batangas) St. Isidore (Lipa, Batangas) St. Joseph the Worker (proposed; Lipa, Batangas) Vicariate of St. John the Evangelist Immaculate Conception (Malvar, Batangas) Nuestra Señora de la Soledad (Tanauan, Batangas) St. John the Evangelist (Tanauan, Batangas) St. Thomas Aquinas (Sto. Tomas, Batangas) St. Clare of Assisi (Sto. Tomas, Batangas) St. Padre Pio (Sto. Tomas, Batangas) Vicariate of St. William the Hermit St. Augustine of Hippo (Tanauan, Batangas) Queen of All Saints (Tanauan, Batangas) Holy Family Flight to Egypt (Tanauan, Batangas) San Guillermo (Talisay, Batangas) Immaculate Conception (Laurel, Batangas)
Images	Nuestra Señora de Caysasay La Inmaculada Concepción de Ciudad de Batangas Santo Niño de Batangan Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace
Suffragan dioceses	Boac Gumaca Lucena Prelature of Infanta
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• Roman Catholic dioceses in the Philippines
• Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Lipa
• Christian organizations established in 1910
• Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century
• Lipa, Batangas
• Religion in Batangas
• Roman Catholic bishops of Lipa