Catholic Intelligence

Diocese of Tagbilaran

Tagbilaran(us)

The Diocese of Tagbilaran is a Latin Church diocese covering part of Bohol province, suffragan to the Archdiocese of Cebu. The see has been vacant since September 2025; bishop-designate Gerardo Saco Jr. declined ordination in May 2026 and continues as diocesan administrator.

The see

Rank
Suffragan diocese
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
8 November 1941
Latin
Tagbilaran(us)
Patron
Saint Joseph and Saint Roch
Annuario code
001003149

The see in figures

Catholics
705,898
Population
748,916
Catholic share
94.3%

of the people living within its bounds

Priests
126
Catholics per priest
5,602
Extent
1,734 km²
Catholics per km²
407

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

Apostolic Administrator
Gerardo Fortich Saco

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

Cathedral-Parish of Saint Joseph the Worker stands in Tagbilaran, 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

A suffragan of Archdiocese of Cebu.

The sees of this province:

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

History

Headquartered in Tagbilaran City, the Diocese of Tagbilaran is one of two Latin Catholic dioceses in the province of Bohol, Philippines, its counterpart being the Diocese of Talibon. Both are suffragans of the Archdiocese of Cebu. At present the see is led by its diocesan administrator, Gerardo Saco Jr.

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].