Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lipa

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.

Bishop 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, Bishop 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.

Laguna became a separate diocese on November 28, 1966, seated in the city of San Pablo and becoming a suffragan of Manila. This left the Diocese of Lipa covering just the province of Batangas.

Elevation into an archdiocese

With the departure of Monsignor Rufino Santos for the Archdiocese of Manila came a young bishop, Alejandro Olalia, D.D., 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 Bishop Olalia to the rank of archbishop on August 15, 1972.

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

Bishop 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 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. Archbishop Rosales was the brainchild behind Aral Batangueño and Pondong Batangan.

With the resignation of Cardinal Jaime Sin in 2003, Archbishop Gaudencio 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 as the fifth Archbishop of Lipa.

In his 13 years in office, Archbishop 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 Archbishop 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.

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 7 vicariates, each headed by a vicar forane. Except for the parishes in Vicariate IV which are run by the Oblates of St. Joseph, all other parishes are run by the diocesan clergy. There are 61 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 and prelature

Archdiocese of Lipa

Province of Batangas

Vicar General: Rev. Msgr. Ruben M. Dimaculangan

Vicariate I: Vicariate of Saint Francis Xavier

Vicariate II: Vicariate of Saint John Mary Vianney

Vicariate III: Vicariate of the Immaculate Conception

Vicariate IV: Vicariate of Saint Joseph

All parishes are under the supervision of the Oblates of Saint Joseph.

Vicariate V: Vicariate of Saint Sebastian

Vicariate VI: Vicariate of the Most Holy Rosary

Vicariate VII: Vicariate of the Holy Cross

Religious institutes and associations

Religious institutes of men

1. Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer ~ CSsR, Redemptorists
2. Brothers of the Christian Schools ~ FSC, De La Salle Brothers
3. Order of Friars Minor Capuchin ~ OFM Cap
4. Oblates of St. Joseph ~ OSJ
5. Salesian Society of St John Bosco ~ SDB
6. Order of Preachers ~ OP, Dominicans
7. Society of the Divine Word ~ SVD
8. Oblates of St. Francis de Sales ~ OSF
9. Institute of the Incarnate Word ~ IVE

Religious institutes of women

1. Congregation of the Augustinian Recollect Sisters ~ AR
2. Clarisas Capuchinas Sacramentarias ~ CCS, Contemplative
3. Canossian Daughters of Charity ~ FdCC
4. Daughters of St. Paul ~ FSP
5. Daughters of St. Francis of Florence ~ DSFF
6. Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Infant Jesus ~ FMIJ
7. Missionary Catechists of the Sacred Heart ~ MCSH
8. Missionary Catechists of St. Therese of the Infant Jesus ~ MCST
9. Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Fatima ~ MSOLF
10. Discalced Nuns of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mt. Carmel ~ OCD, Contemplative
11. Augustinian Sisters of Our Lady of Consolation ~ OSA-ASOLC
12. Benedictines of the Incarnate Word ~ OSB
13. Sisters Oblates of the Holy Spirit ~ OSS
14. Oblates of Sisters of St. Joseph ~ OSSJ
15. Congregation of the Mother of Sorrows Servants of Mary ~ OSM, Servite Sisters
16. Pious Worker Sisters of the Immaculate Conception ~ POIC
17. Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd~ RGS/CGS
18. Missionary Sisters of the Catechism ~ SMC
19. Congregation of the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres ~ SPC
20. Minim Nuns of St. Francil of Paola ~ OM
21. Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate ~ FSI
22. La Salle Sisters of Guadalupe ~ HGS
23. Congregation of the Daughters of St. Dominic ~ OP-DSD
24. Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth ~ CSFN

Lay religious organizations/Movements and their heads

1. Pondong Batangan Community Foundation, Inc.
2. Cursillo Movement
3. Adoracion Nocturna Filipina
4. Apostleship of Prayer
5. Archdiocesan Charismatic Movement
6. El Shaddai Movement
7. Knights of Columbus
8. Basic Ecclesial Communities
9. Legion of Mary
10. Barangay Sang Birhen
11. Mother Butler's Guild
12. Holy Name Society
13. Daughters of Mary Immaculate:
14. Catholic Women's League
15. Propagation of the Devotion to St. Lorenzo Ruiz
16. Prisoner's Welfare
17. Defenders of the Faith
18. Lipa Archdiocesan Divine Mercy Apostolate
19. Couples for Christ Foundation for Family and Life (CFCFFL)

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 coffeetable 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.