Diocese of Bacolod
Bacoloden(sis)
Suffragan diocese · Latin Church · Bacolod, Philippines
The Diocese of Bacolod is a Latin Church diocese in Negros Occidental, Philippines, erected in 1932 and suffragan to the Archdiocese of Jaro. Pope Leo XIV appointed Louie Galbines as bishop in May 2026, succeeding Patricio Buzon who retired at the age limit.
The see
- Rank
- Suffragan diocese
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 15 July 1932
- Latin
- Bacoloden(sis)
- Patron
- Saint Sebastian
- Annuario code
- 001000777
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 1,291,547
- Population
- 1,634,870
- Catholic share
- 79.0%
- Priests
- 162
- Catholics per priest
- 7,973
- Extent
- 2,019 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 640
of the people living within its bounds
Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.
The bishop
- Bishop
- Louie Galbines
A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.
The cathedral
San Sebastian Cathedral stands in Bacolod, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.
Its co-cathedral is San Diego Pro-Cathedral.
On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.
The province of Jaro
A suffragan of Archdiocese of Jaro.
The sees of this province:
- Archdiocese of JaroJaro
- Diocese of KabankalanKabankalan
- Diocese of San CarlosSan Carlos
- Diocese of San Jose de AntiqueSan Jose de Antique
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
A suffragan of the Archdiocese of Jaro, the Latin Catholic Diocese of Bacolod covers most of the northwestern towns and cities of Negros Occidental in the Philippines, reaching as far as Victorias City in the north and the Municipality of Hinigaran in the south. Its seat is the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod, one of 12 cathedrals founded by the Order of Augustinian Recollects in the Philippines, with the San Diego Pro-cathedral in Silay serving as pro-cathedral. On May 14, 2026, Pope Leo XIV named Kabankalan Bishop Louie Galbines as the new bishop of Bacolod.
How to reach it
- Chancery
- Bishop’s Residence, Rizal St., 6100 Bacolod City, Philippines
- [email protected]
This see keeps no website of its own, so its chancery is published here: withholding it would protect nothing and leave a reader with nowhere to go. Where a see publishes its own site, the register sends you there instead.
What is kept by invitation
The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.
The working record is not. The clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it, are kept for members, and a person reads every request.
Sources
This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].