Roman Catholic Diocese of Masbate

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Masbate (Latin: Dioecesis Masbatensis) is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. The seat of the bishop is the Cathedral Parish of Saint Anthony of Padua along Quezon Street, Masbate City.

Diocese of Masbate Dioecesis Masbatensis Diyosesis san Masbate Diyosesis ng Masbate Diócesis de Masbate
Catholic
Masbate Cathedral
Coat of arms
Location
Country	Philippines
Territory	Masbate
Ecclesiastical province	Caceres
Metropolitan	Caceres
Coordinates	12°22′08″N 123°37′08″E
Statistics
Area	7,000 km2 (2,700 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2021) 983,172 917,532 (93.3%)
Parishes	35
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	March 23, 1968 (created), September 25, 1968 (canonically erected)
Cathedral	Saint Anthony of Padua Cathedral
Patron saint	Anthony of Padua
Secular priests	60
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	José S. Bantolo
Metropolitan Archbishop	Archbishop Rex Andrew Alarcon
Vicar General	Eusebio Llonoso
Map
Territorial jurisdiction of the Diocese of Masbate
Statistics from Catholic-Hierarchy.org

The diocese has experienced no jurisdictional changes and is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Cáceres. Its patron is Saint Anthony of Padua.

The former coat of arms of the Diocese of Masbate features a gold island (masbad‒a lot of gold) topped with a church upon an agitated sea, in canton a book and lily, the symbols of St. Anthony of Padua.

History

With the other provinces of Bicol, Masbate once belonged to the Archdiocese of Cáceres. When Cáceres was elevated to the status of an archdiocese on June 29, 1951, Masbate became part of the newly erected Diocese of Sorsogon. Pope Paul VI created the Diocese of Masbate on March 23, 1968. It was formally inaugurated on September 25, 1968, with Porfírio Rivera Iligan, a priest from the Archdiocese of Cáceres, as its first bishop.

Ordinaries

No	Name	In office	Coat of arms
1.	Bishop Porfirio R. Iligan	June 17, 1968 – February 14, 1998
2.	Bishop Joel Z. Baylon	February 14, 1998 – October 1, 2009 appointed Bishop of Legazpi
2.	Bishop José S. Bantolo	June 15, 2011 – present

Vicars-general

The vicar-general assists the bishop in the administrative duties over the diocese. The offices of the vicar general and the episcopal vicars temporarily ceased upon the vacancy of the episcopal see.

• Anacleto Golimlim (†)
• Arturo Lachica (†)
• Claro Caluya III (1984–2009)
• Ismael Misolas (2009)
• Eusebio Llonoso (2011–present)

See also

• Catholic Church in the Philippines

Resources

• The 2010–2011 Catholic Directory of the Philippines (published by Claretian Publications for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, 2010)