Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lipa
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lipa is an archdiocese in the Philippines comprising the civil province of Batangas and with its cathedral located in the city of Lipa. First created in 1910 from the Archdiocese of Manila, the diocese was elevated into its present status in 1972. Today, the Ecclesiastical Province of Lipa 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, and 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 only 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 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. Archbishop Rosales founded Aral Batangueño and the small giving foundation 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. 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, 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 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 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 and apostolic vicariates
- Apostolic Vicariate of Calapan
- Apostolic Vicariate of San Jose
- Diocese of Boac
- Diocese of Gumaca
- Diocese of Lucena
- Prelature of Infanta
Archbishop
List of Archbishops of Lipa
| No. | Picture | Name | From | Until | Notes |
| 1 | Giuseppe Petrelli, D. D. | April 12, 1910 | March 30, 1915 | Appointed as the first Bishop of the Diocese of Lipa; later appointed as official to the Roman Curia | |
| 2 | Servant of God Alfredo Florentin Versoza, D. D. | September 6, 1916 | February 25, 1951 | Retired from office | |
| 3 | Alejandro Ayson Olalia, D. D. | 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, D. D. | August 22, 1973 | April 13, 1981 | Later appointed Archbishop of Cebu, and Cardinal | |
| 5 | Mariano Garces Gaviola, D. D. | April 13, 1981 | December 13, 1992 | Retired from office | |
| 6 | Gaudencio Borbon Rosales, D. D. | December 13, 1992 | September 25, 2003 | Later appointed Archbishop of Manila, and Cardinal | |
| 7 | Ramon Cabrera Arguelles, D. D. | May 14, 2004 | February 2, 2017 | Retired from office | |
| 8 | 100px | Gilbert Armea Garcera, D. D. | February 2, 2017 | present |
Auxiliary bishops
- Venerable Servant of God Most Rev. Alfredo Maria Aranda Obviar, D.D.: March 11, 1944 Appointed - November 4, 1950 Appointed Bishop of Lucena
- Most Rev. Salvador Quizon Quizon, D.D.: June 9, 1979 Appointed - April 6, 2002 Retired
- Most Rev. Buenaventura Malayo Famadico, D.D.: April 6, 2002 Appointed - June 11, 2003 Appointed Bishop of Gumaca
- Most Rev. Jose Paala Salazar, D.D.: June 11, 2003 Appointed - May 30, 2004 Died
Vision
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.