Archdiocese of Jaro Archdiocesis Jarensis
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| Catholic | |
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 Coat of arms | |
| Location | |
| Country |  Philippines |
| Territory | |
| Ecclesiastical province | Jaro |
| Headquarters | Jaro, Iloilo City |
| Coordinates | 10°43′24″N122°33′22″E / 10.7234°N 122.556°E /10.7234; 122.556 |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 5,303 km2 (2,047 sq mi) |
Population
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| Parishes | 95 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established |
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| Cathedral | Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Elizabeth of Hungary |
| Patron saint |
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| Secular priests | 166 |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Leo XIV |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | Most Rev.Midyphil B. Billones, D.D. |
| Suffragans | |
| Vicar General | Very Rev. Msgr. Jose Marie Amado Delgado, PC, VG |
| Bishops emeritus | Jose Romeo Lazo, D.D. (2018-2025) Angel Lagdameo, D.D. (2000-2018) Alberto Jover Piamonte, D.D. (1986-1998) Artemio G. Casas, D.D. (1974-1985) Jaime Sin, D.D. (1972-1974) Jose Maria Cuenco, D.D. (Bishop, 1945-1951) (Archbishop, 1951-1972) |
| Map | |
 Jurisdiction of the metropolitan see within the Philippines. | |
| Website | |
| Archdiocese of Jaro | |
TheArchdiocese of Jaro (Latin:Archdiocesis Jarensis;Hiligaynon:Arkidiyosesis sang Jaro;Filipino:Arkidiyosesis ng Jaro;Spanish:Arquidiócesis de Jaro) is aLatin Churcharchdiocese of theCatholic Church headquartered inJaro, Iloilo City,Philippines. Itsepiscopal see is at theMetropolitan Cathedral of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, also the National Shrine of Our Lady of Candles, as its seat.[2] Themetropolitan archdiocese covers the provinces ofIloilo,Guimaras,Antique, andNegros Occidental. Its titular patron saint isElizabeth of Hungary, whose feast is celebrated on November 17.[2]
The Archdiocese of Jaro is one of the oldest episcopal sees in the country. It was founded on March 3, 1575 and became a Parish or Vista of the town of Oton in 1587. It was formally established as a Diocese on May 27, 1865 through apapal bull ofPope Pius IX,[3] according to a document signed by ArchbishopGregorio Martinez, then archbishop of Manila. The diocese was created from the territory of theArchdiocese of Manila. Its first bishop wasMariano Cuartero, aDominican missionary in the Philippines, who took possession of the diocese, on April 25, 1868.[3] It is also one of the largest episcopal sees during the Spanish colonial era encompassing the whole island of Panay (Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras and Iloilo provinces), Mindoro, Romblon, Negros (Negros Occidental andNegros Oriental provinces), Palawan, Davao, Sulu, Cotabato andZamboanga Peninsula as part of its jurisdiction.
On April 10, 1910, it lost some of its territories to the newly createdDiocese of Zamboanga andApostolic Prefecture of Palawan.Negros Oriental (Dumaguete) was also a part of it, but became a separate diocese under Cebu. Later, three otherecclesiastical jurisdictions were established from its territory: theDiocese of Bacolod (July 15, 1932),Apostolic Prefecture of Mindoro (July 2, 1936), and theDiocese of Capiz (January 27, 1951).[2]
On April 28, 1934,Pope Pius XI promulgatedapostolic constitutionRomanorum Pontificum semper separating the dioceses ofCebu,Calbayog, Jaro,Bacolod,Zamboanga andCagayan de Oro from theecclesiastical province of Manila. The same constitution elevated the diocese of Cebu into an archdiocese while placing all the newly separated dioceses under a new ecclesiastical province with Cebu as the new metropolitan see.[4] On June 29, 1951, it was raised as a metropolitan archdiocese byPope Pius XII.[3] On March 24, 1962, it lost some territory to establish theTerritorial Prelature of San Jose de Antique, which was later elevated as a diocese in 1982.[2]
The ecclesiastical province of Jaro consists of the metropolitan archdiocese of the same name, as well as itssuffragan dioceses ofBacolod,San Carlos, andKabankalan, all in the province ofNegros Occidental, andSan Jose de Antique in the province ofAntique.[2]
The precursor of the Archdiocese of Jaro dates back when it was founded in 1587 as a Roman Catholic parish by the Spanish colonists. The diocese of Jaro whose patron saint isElizabeth of Hungary was officially and formally established by virtue of thePapal bull "Qui Ab Initio" of Pope Pius IX, issued in Rome on May 27, 1865. On October 10, 1867, the decree took effect and Jaro was made anEpiscopal See, according to the document signed by D. Gregorio Meliton Martinez, then archbishop of Manila and executor-delegate of the decree. It is worth noting that this "decretum executorium" was also signed by Jose Burgos, Pro-Secretary, a secular priest who became one of the outstanding martyr-heroes of the country.
Jaro was carved out from the thenDiocese of Cebu and became asuffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Manila. Its territories at creation comprised the islands ofPanay, (now composed of the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz, Antique and Aklan),Guimaras,Negros (now the twin provinces ofNegros Occidental andNegros Oriental),Romblon andPalawan, as well as the provinces ofCotabato,Zamboanga,Davao andSulu ofMindanao. Mariano Cuartero became its first bishop on April 25, 1868.
In the 20th century the diocese was further divided to form new ecclesiastical jurisdictions. Zamboanga was made a separate diocese in 1910, while Palawan was made an apostolic prelature in the same year; then Bacolod in 1933, Capiz in 1951 and finally the Prelature of San Jose, Antique in 1962 as suffragans.
Concurrently with the elevation of Jaro to an archdiocese, the first Filipino bishop,Jose Maria Cuenco, was raised to the rank of metropolitan archbishop, thereby making him the first archbishop of Jaro.
On January 17, 1976,Pope Paul VI elevated Capiz to the rank of archdiocese, with the dioceses of Romblon and Kalibo as its suffragans. The Archdiocese of Jaro was left with the dioceses of Bacolod (which eventually was divided into three dioceses:Bacolod,San Carlos, andKabankalan) andSan Jose de Antique as its suffragans.
On February 20, 1981,Pope John Paul II visited the archdiocese and crowned the image ofNuestra Señora de la Candelaria at the facade ofJaro Cathedral, the first Marian image crowned personally without a papal legate by a pope.[5]
The blackeagle and the three redroses refer toSaint Elizabeth ofHungary or ofThuringia, patroness of theJaro Cathedral. Thecoconut on a green knoll representsJaro.[6]
| Bishop | Period in office | Notes | Coat of Arms | ||||
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| Bishops of Jaro (May 27, 1865 – June 29, 1951) | |||||||
| 1 |  | Mariano Cuartero y Medina,O.P. | September 20, 1867 – July 16, 1884 (16 years, 300 days) | Died in office |  | ||
| 2 |  | Leandro Arrúe Agudo,O.A.R. | March 27, 1885 – October 24, 1897 (12 years, 211 days) | Died in office |  | ||
| 3 |  | Andrés Ferrero y Malo de San José,O.A.R. | March 24, 1898 – October 27, 1903 (5 years, 217 days) | Resigned |  | ||
| 4 |  | Frederick Zadok Rooker | June 12, 1903 – September 20, 1907 (4 years, 100 days) | Died in office |  | ||
| 5 |  | Dennis Joseph Dougherty | April 19, 1908 – December 6, 1915 (7 years, 231 days) | AppointedBishop of Buffalo | .svg) | ||
| 6 |  | Maurice Patrick Foley | September 6, 1916 – August 7, 1919 (2 years, 335 days) | Died in office |  | ||
| 7 |  | James Paul McCloskey | March 8, 1920 – April 10, 1945 (25 years, 33 days) | Died in office |  | ||
| 8 |  | José María Cuenco | November 24, 1945 – June 29, 1951 (5 years, 217 days) | Elevated toarchbishop in 1951 |  | ||
| Archbishops of Jaro (June 29, 1951 – present) | |||||||
| 1 | | José María Cuenco | June 29, 1951 – October 8, 1972 (21 years, 101 days) | Died in office | .svg) | ||
| 2 | Jaime Lachica Sin,O.F.S. | October 8, 1972 – January 21, 1974 (1 year, 105 days) | AppointedArchbishop of Manila |  | |||
| 3 |  | Artemio G. Casas | May 11, 1974 – October 25, 1985 (11 years, 167 days) | Resigned |  | ||
| 4 | Alberto Jover Piamonte | April 2, 1986 – December 17, 1998 (12 years, 259 days) | Died in office |  | |||
| 5 |  | Angel Lagdameo | May 9, 2000 – February 14, 2018 (17 years, 281 days) | Retired |  | ||
| 6 | .jpg) | Jose Romeo O. Lazo | April 17, 2018 – February 2, 2025 (6 years, 291 days) | Retired |  | ||
| 7 | Midyphil B. Billones | April 2, 2025 – present (237 days) | .svg) | ||||
Living
Deceased
| Diocese | Bishop | Period in Office | Coat of Arms | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Bacolod (Negros Occidental) | Patricio A. Buzon | August 9, 2016 – present (9 years, 108 days) |  | |
 | Kabankalan (Negros Occidental) | Louie P. Galbines | May 29, 2018 – present (7 years, 180 days) |  | |
.svg) | San Carlos (Negros Occidental) | Gerardo A. Alminaza | November 14, 2013 – present (12 years, 11 days) |  | |
 | San Jose de Antique (Antique) | .png) | Marvyn A. Maceda | April 9, 2019 – present (6 years, 230 days) |  |
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Diocese of Jaro".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.Archdiocesis Jarensis | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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