Catholic Intelligence

Archdiocese of Cebu

Nominis Iesu seu Caebuan(us)

The Archdiocese of Cebu, erected as a diocese in 1595 and elevated to an archdiocese in 1934, is one of the oldest and largest sees in the Philippines. Its suffragans are Dumaguete, Maasin, Tagbilaran, and Talibon, and Archbishop Alberto Uy was installed on September 30, 2025.

The see

Rank
Metropolitan see
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
14 August 1595
Latin
Nominis Iesu seu Caebuan(us)
Patron
Saint Vitalis of Milan; Our Lady of Guadalupe de Cebu (patroness)
Annuario code
001001088

The see in figures

Catholics
4,700,000
Population
5,388,718
Catholic share
87.2%

of the people living within its bounds

Priests
348
Catholics per priest
13,506
Extent
5,088 km²
Catholics per km²
924

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

Archbishop
Alberto Uy
Born
18 October 1966
Birthplace
Ubay

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

Metropolitan Cathedral and Parish of St. Vitalis stands in Cebu, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.

On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.

The province of Cebu

This see is the metropolitan of its province.

The sees of this province:

On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.

History

One of the ecclesiastical provinces of the Catholic Church in the Philippines is anchored by the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cebu, a Latin Church archdiocese whose more formal title is the Metropolitan Archdiocese of the Most Holy Name of Jesus in Cebu. That title appears in Latin as Archidioecesis Metropolitae Nominis Iesu o Caebuana, in Filipino as Kalakhang Arkidiyosesis ng Kabanal-banalang Ngalan ni Hesus sa Cebu, in Cebuano as Arkidiyosesis Metropolitano sa Labing Balaan nga Ngalan ni Hesus sa Sugbo, and in Spanish as Arquidiocesis Metropolitano del Santisimo Nombre de Jesus de Cebu.

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 chancery's address, telephone and email, 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.

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Sources

The see's own website · Wikipedia

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].