Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Jaro


The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Jaro is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church headquartered in Jaro, Iloilo City, the Philippines. It is based with the Jaro Cathedral as its seat.
The Archdiocese of Jaro is one of the oldest episcopal sees in the country. It was established as a parish in 1587 and was elevated to a diocese by a papal bull of Pope Pius IX on May 27, 1865, according to a document signed by Archbishop Gregorio Martinez, then Archbishop of Manila. The diocese was created from the territory of the Archdiocese of Manila. Its first Bishop was Fray Mariano Cuartero, O.P., a Dominican missionary in the Philippines, who took possession of the diocese, on April 25, 1868. It is also one the largest episcopal sees during the Spanish colonial era encompassing the whole island of Panay, Mindoro, Romblon, Negros, Palawan, Davao, Sulu, Cotabato and Zamboanga Peninsula as part of its jurisdiction.
On April 10, 1910, it lost some of its territory to the newly created Diocese of Zamboanga and Apostolic Prefecture of Palawan. Negros Oriental was also its part but became a separate diocese under Cebu. Later, three other ecclesiastical jurisdictions were established from its territory: the Diocese of Bacolod, Apostolic Prefecture of Mindoro, and Roman Catholic Diocese of Capiz.
On 29 June 1951, it was raised as a Metropolitan Archdiocese by Pope Pius XII. On 24 March 1962, it lost some territory to establish the Territorial Prelature of San Jose de Antique.
At present, the Archdiocese of Jaro covers the provinces of Iloilo and Guimaras, an island off Iloilo. Suffragan dioceses include the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bacolod, the Diocese of San Carlos, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kabankalan, all in the province Negros Occidental and the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jose de Antique on the island of Panay.
As of the year 2004, out of a population of 2,232,931, 92.00% or 2,054,296 are Catholic, making Jaro the eighth-largest diocese in the Philippines. In 2015, the archdiocese has 92 parishes, 256 priests, 644 lay religious, 65 seminarians. In the same year, the Catholic population numbers 2,641,965 Catholics or 83.1% of 3,177,462 total residents of its entire territory covering 5,304 km². The province is predominantly rural with 72.7 percent of the total population residing in rural areas and only 27.3 percent in urban area. Agriculture, forestry and fishing are the leading major industries.
Its titular patron saint is St. Elizabeth of Hungary, whose feast is celebrated on November 17.

History

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 is St. Elizabeth of Hungary was officially and formally established by virtue of the Papal bull "Qui Ab Initio" of Pope Pius IX. The bull was issued in Rome on May 27, 1865. On October 10, 1867 the decree took effect and Jaro was made an Episcopal See, according to the document signed by Dr. 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 the Rev. Jose Burgos, Pro-Secretary, a secular priest who became one of the outstanding martyr-heroes of the country.
Jaro was separated from the now Archdiocese of Cebu and became a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Manila. Its territories at creation comprised the islands of Panay,, Guimaras, Negros, Romblon and Palawan, as well as the provinces of Cotabato, Zamboanga, Davao and Sulu of Mindanao. Sr. Dr. Fr. Mariano Cuartero, OP, 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, the Most Rev. Jose Maria Cuenco, DD, PhD, LIB, 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 and San Jose de Antique as its suffragans.
On 21 February 1981, Pope John Paul II visited the archdiocese and crowned the image of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria at the facade of Jaro Cathedral, the first Marian image crowned personally without a papal legate by a Pope and Saint.
Last 2012, the relics of Saint Clare and the pilgrim image of St. Pedro Calungsod visited the archdiocese.
Last March 15–17, 2013, the pilgrim relics of St. Therese of the Child Jesus visited the archdiocese a third time.

Bishops

The current archbishop is the Most Reverend Jose Romeo O. Lazo D.D. He was born on 23 January 1949 in San Jose de Buenavista, Antique He attended the St. Vincent Ferrer Major Seminary in Jaro, and was ordained a priest on 1 April 1975 in San Jose de Buenavista, Antique. After his ordination, he pursued higher studies at the East Asian Pastoral Institute, Quezon City in and the Institute of Pastoral Theology in Berkeley, California, United States.
In 2003, Bishop Lazo was appointed Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kalibo, and was ordained bishop on 29 December 2003. Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jose de Antique in 2009. On 14 February 2018, Pope Francis appointed him as the Archbishop of Jaro following the retirement of Archbishop Angel Lagdameo. Archbishop Lagdameo served the Archdiocese for 17 years.

List of Bishops and Archbishops of Jaro

Affiliated Bishops

Living
Deceased