Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Palo

Archdiocese of Palo
Archidioecesis Palensis
Arkidiyosesis han Palo
Arkidiyosesis sa Palo

Location
Country Philippines
Territory Eastern Visayas except Southern Leyte
Ecclesiastical province Leyte
Metropolitan Palo, Leyte
Statistics
Area 4,620 km2 (1,780 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		 (as of 2004)
1,572,472
1,257,977 (80%)
Information
Denomination Roman Catholic
Sui iuris church Latin Church
Rite Roman Rite
Established 28 November 1937 (Diocese)
14 February 1982 (Archdiocese)
Cathedral Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lord's Transfiguration in Palo, Leyte
Patron saint Transfiguration of Our Lord
Secular priests 158 priests
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Metropolitan Archbishop John Forrosuelo Du
Vicar General Rex C. Ramirez, SLL
Emeritus Bishops Pedro R. Dean Archbishop Emeritus (1985-2006)
Map

Jurisdiction of the metropolitan see within the Philippines.
Website
Website of the Archdiocese

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Palo is a large administrative diocese of the Catholic Church in the town of Palo in Leyte province, Philippines. It was formed as a diocese on the 28th of November, 1937, and became an archdiocese in 1982, with Calbayog, Borongan, Catarman and Naval Diocese serving as suffragan to it. The archdiocese encompasses 4,620 km2 (1,780 sq mi) and an overwhelmingly Catholic population of 1,165,565. The archdiocese has two districts, Eastern and Western, which are divided among the languages Waray and Cebuano. The Eastern District has seven vicariates of 34 parishes. 13 parishes are in the Western District, with one chaplaincy. The archdiocese contains two seminaries. The elder of these is the Sacred Heart Seminary, which was founded in 1944. Founded in 1988, the St. John Evangelist School of Theology serves additional dioceses. Jose S. Palma, a priest from the Archdiocese of Jaro was the Archbishop of Palo until he was appointed as Archbishop of Cebu

The Archdiocese of Palo will be celebrating its Diamond Jubilee this year, since it was created as a Diocese on November 28, 1937 and elevated to as Archdiocese November 15, 1982 with four neighboring dioceses of the Metropolitan, to include Borongan, Calbayog, Catarman and Naval.

History

The province of Leyte to which the Archdiocese of Palo belongs was the scene of the first Mass in the Philippines celebrated by Fr. Pedro de Valderrama on March 31, 1521, Easter Sunday. The exact spot is the small island Limasawa on the southernmost tip of Leyte Island. However, formal work of evangelization did not start until after seventy four years later when the Jesuits arrived in Kangara or Carigara, led by Fr. Pedro Chirino, S.J. with four priests and one brother companion on the 16th of July, 1595. At that time there were settlements connected with each other by dirt roads. The missionaries had to work for the formation of the towns since the people were spread out over the lowlands and into the mountains. The population of about 70,000 came under the general control of local officials called encomenderos assigned to collect the tribute from the people. A constant difficulty the missionaries encountered in their efforts of spreading the Faith was the greediness of the tribute collectors and the carrying out of the Moro raids. These raids usually came during the monsoon season. The object of the raids was to capture slaves, to inflict physical damage to the towns and countryside, and to carry away any crop or booty. The captured slaves were to be later sold in Malaya, Macassar, or Java. The first major raid on record was made on October 28, 1603, composed of seventy ships and two thousand men. Palo and Dulag were burned, and captives were taken. A raid in 1613 resulted in the capture of four hundred people in Dulag alone. Another raid in 1634 brought heavy damage to Cabalian, Sogod, Baybay, and Ormoc. Members of the clergy were at times among the captives with death being at the times the punishment meted out to victims. The first missions were Carigara (1595), Dulag (1595), Palo (1596), Alangalang (1597), and Ormoc (1597). Early structures were light materials, but eventually they were replaced by stone structures, e.g. Tanauan (1714) and Abuyog (1718). The missionaries insisted that the structures be built by hired laborers, not by forced labor. Baptisms were preceded by a period of training in the Christian way of life. This period of training would often last for several months. In the Palo missions a small catechetical text was printed in the Visayan by Fr. Cristobal Himenes, as an aid in the preparation of candidates for baptism. By 1600 there were an estimated 6,000 people in the Palo Community with 1000 having been baptized. The same ratio was found in the twenty-five villages where the missionaries had chapels; a total of 4946 Christians were found among the over-all population of 24,500. Most of the residents of Leyte were baptized by 1768. There were twenty established parishes in that year. Four of the parishes were in the North: Carigara, Barugo, Alangalang, Jaro. Eight of the parishes were in the west and south: Palompon, Ormoc, Baybay, Hilongos, Maasin, Sogod, Cabalian, and Hinunangan. Another eight parishes were in the east: Palo, Tanauan, Dulag, Abuyog, Dagami, Burauen, Basey and Balangiga ( the last two being across the gulf in Samar Island). A hospital and boarding school were built in Dulag, while Carigara conducted a day school.

In 1768, the Jesuits were commanded to leave the Philippines. This was due to the unfortunate circumstances in Europe at that time. They were replaced in Leyte by the Augustinians who in 1834 eventually ceded the parishes the northeastern part to the Franciscans while the diocesan clergy of Cebu took over the parishes in the west and the south. In 1898, the Franciscans, as Spanish citizens, had to leave the country and the diocesan clergy took over. Leyte had belonged to the Diocese of Cebu until 1910 and then belonged to the Diocese of Calbayog from 1910 until 1937. On November 28, 1937 the Island of Leyte was created a Diocese of its own. It was canonically erected as a diocese with the seat in Palo. After thirty-one years, on March 23, 1968, Palo was divided into two dioceses, the other diocese based in Maasin with the Most Rev. Vicente T. Ataviado, D.D. as its first Ordinary. The diocese of Maasin comprises the whole province of Southern Leyte including six municipalities southwest of Leyte. In 1988, the diocese was again divided with the creation of the Diocese of Naval. This new diocese comprises the island north of Leyte called Biliran and four towns northeast of the province of Leyte facing the island of Biliran. The Diocese of Palo was elevated to an Archdiocese on November 15, 1982. It was canonically erected as an Archdiocese on February 14, 1983 As an Archdiocese. It comprises the whole island of Leyte except 10 municipalities. It has four suffragan dioceses: Calbayog, Borongan, Catarman, and Naval. Its titular patron is the Transfiguration of Our Lord.

Archbishop of Palo

Archbishop John Forrosuelo Du, the newly appointed Archbishop of Palo was installed on May 9, 2012 at 9:30AM by the Papal Nuncio to the Philippines, His Excellency Archbishop Giuseppe Pinto at the Metropolitan Cathedral, Palo, Leyte.

After more than a year the Archdiocese of Palo finally has a new Archbishop, to the delight of all the faithful of the local Church when Pope Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop John F. Du, as officially announced last February 25, 2012 to be the Shepherd of the Archdiocese of Palo.

The New Archbishop, His Excellency Archbishop John F. Du was born in Bantayan, Cebu City, on October 18, 1954. He completed his High School studies and attended a special course at Pope John XXIII Seminary. From 1971 to 1975 he took his Philosophy at San Carlos Junior College of Cebu, and then his Theology in St. Augustine Major Seminary, under the SVD Fathers in Tagaytay City. He was ordained for the Archdiocese of Cebu on June 1, 1979. After his priestly ordination he was assigned as Assistant Pastor for three years. In 1982 he was appointed Professor at the Minor Seminary of Cebu, becoming later its Procurator and Rector. He became the spiritual director of the Missionaries of Charity in Cebu and a member of the Committee of the ongoing formation of the clergy of the Archdiocese.

He was elected titular bishop of Timici and auxiliary bishop of Cebu on November 21, 1997, and was consecrated on January 6, 1998. On April 21, 2001 he was transferred to the Diocese of Dumaguete. He is currently the Treasurer of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines and the Chairman of the CBCP Pension Plan.

As the new Archbishop of Palo, he will head around 1.2 million Roman Catholics in his care. He will be serving 63 parishes, 1 Chaplaincy and 13 Mission Stations, divided into two districts: the Eastern District (the waray speaking, comprising the vicariates of Tacloban, Carigara, Burauen, Chancery seminary, Abuyog and Palo), and the Western District (Cebuano speaking people which consist of the vicariates of Ormoc and Palompon)

Ordinaries

Bishops of Palo
Picture Name From Until
Most Rev. Manuel M. Mascariñas, D.D. December 16, 1937 November 12, 1951, Appointed, Bishop of Tagbilaran
Mos Rev. Lino R. Gonzaga, D.D. November 12, 1951 August 12, 1966, Appointed, Archbishop of Zamboanga
Most Rev. Teotimo C. Pacis, D.D. November 18, 1966 May 23, 1969, Appointed, Bishop of Legazpi
Most Rev. Manuel S. Salvador, D.D. October 21, 1969 September 25, 1972, Appointed, Coadjutor Archbishop of Cebu
Most Rev. Cipriano V. Urgel, D.D. April 12, 1973 November 15, 1982, Elevated, Archbishop of Palo
Archbishops of Palo
Picture Name From Until
Most Rev. Cipriano V. Urgel, D. D. November 15, 1982 April 22, 1985, Died
Most Rev. Pedro R. Dean, D.D. October 12, 1985 March 18, 2006, Retired
Most Rev. Jose S. Palma, D.D. March 18, 2006 October 15, 2010, Appointed, Archbishop of Cebu
Most Rev. John F. Du, D.D. February 25, 2012 present

Seminaries

Parishes

Eastern District

Vicariate of Palo

Vicariate of Tacloban City

Vicariate of Burauen

Vicariate of Abuyog

Vicariate of Carigara

Western District

Vicariate of Ormoc City

Vicariate of Palompon

Suffragan dioceses

See also

Sources

Coordinates: 11°09′34″N 124°59′28″E / 11.1594°N 124.9910°E / 11.1594; 124.9910

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