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Prior to the Creation of the Prelature of Libmanan The Prelature of Libmanan is formerly part of the Archdiocese of Caceres. The Diocese of Caceres was formally established as a local Church on August 14, 1595 by virtue of the Papal Bull Super Specula Militantis Ecclesiae issued by Clement VIII. According to the document Ecclesia de Caceres in Indiis Orientalibus, the Episcopal See of Caceres until 1951 covered “the provinces of Camarines and Albay, including the islands of Ticao, Masbate, Burias and Catanduanes; the province of Tayabas including Lucban; and, in the contracosta of Mauban to Binangonan, Polo, Baler and Casiguran.” Ecclesia Cacerensis in Indiis Orientalis was the official name given to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
In 1565, an organized and systematic program of evangelization was initiated in the Philippines by the Augustinians who accompanied Miguel Lopez de Legaspi’s expedition. To facilitate the process of evangelization, the Philippines was divided into different missionary areas occupied by the various religious orders such as the Franciscans (1578), Jesuits (1581), Dominicans (1587), and Augustinian Recollects (1606) from both Spain and Mexico. On April 27, 1594, the Franciscan missionaries occupied exclusively the Diocese of Caceres. Fray Luis de Maldonado, OFM was appointed the first Bishop of the Diocese of Caceres. Later on, the evangelization of the Diocese of Caceres was not only through the sole effort of the Franciscans but also through the undying support of the other missionary orders. Given the vast ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Diocese of Caceres and the lack of personnel, the Franciscans invited some missionary orders. The Jesuits, through the invitation of Fray Diego de Guevarra (1616-1621), accepted a mission in Cabeza de Bondoc, a peninsula. Before the end of the 17th century, Bishop Andres Gonzales invited the Recollects to take over the islands of Masbate, Burias, and Tikaw. On June 28, 1658, the Franciscans ceded a portion of their missionary field. The Franciscans entrusted to the Recollects the Pacific Coast of Luzon and the northern part of the Bicol Peninsula. The Recollects founded the missions in Palanan, Casiguran, Baler, Binangonan and the old Polillo Island. The Dominican contribution to the initial evangelization of the Diocese of Caceres was not as enormous as the Franciscans, Jesuits and Augustinian Recollects. However, the Dominicans gave three Bishops namely Andres Gonzales (1685-1709), Domingo Collantes (1788-1808), and Francisco Gainza (1862-1879). The evangelization in the Diocese of Caceres brought significant and prominent fruits: firstly, the promotion of the popular devotion to the Virgin of Peñafrancia and to the Divino Rostro (Divine Face). The birth of the devotion to the Virgin of Peñafrancia started during the time of Bishop Andres Gonzales, O.P. (1633-1709) who invited Miguel de Robles to bring the devotion to Nueva Caceres. This devotion spread rapidly due to miracles not only in the Bicol Region but even throughout the country. The devotion to the Divino Rostro was introduced in Bicol only in 1882. Secondly, the gradual growth of the native clergy with the building of a Diocesan Conciliar Seminary that started in 1783, but it was in 1797 that the canonical erection of the Seminario Conciliar de Caceres was accomplished under Bishop Domingo Collantes (1788-1808). Thirdly, the Most Rev. Jorge Barlin, Bishop of Caceres from 1905-1909, became the first Filipino and Diocesan Bishop. He was an alumnus of the Seminario de Conciliar de Caceres together with Jose Ma. Panganiban. In 1910, a major reorganization of the Episcopal jurisdictions took place in the Philippines. Four new Bishoprics were created on April 10, 1910, namely Lipa, Calbayog, Tuguegarao, and Zamboanga—and the Prefecture Apostolic of Palawan. The erection of Lipa as a Diocese was beneficial to the Bishopric of Nueva Caceres because it reduced her extensive territory and made the see of Nueva Caceres exclusively for the Bicol area, covering the entire region with the provinces of Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate and Sorsogon. On April 8, 1951, the Apostolic Delegation was elevated to the rank of Apostolic Nunciature and the first Nuncio was Msgr. Egidio Vagnozzi. In his term as Apostolic Nuncio, he made a reorganization of the Philippine ecclesiastical jurisdictions. The old “Church of Caceres in Oriental Indies” became a Metropolitan See. Through the Papal Bull Quo in Philippina Republica of June 29, 1951, Pope Pius XII elevated the Diocese of Caceres into the Archdiocese of Caceres. On the same date, the Vicariates Forane of Legazpi and of Sorsogon were elevated into Episcopal Sees and were assigned as Suffragans of the Metropolitan See of Caceres. The incumbent Bishop Pedro Santos was named to head the new Ecclesiastical province as its first Archbishop. Meanwhile, the Archdiocese of Caceres encompassed the civil provinces of Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur. The Diocese of Legazpi comprised the civil provinces of Albay and Catanduanes and the islands of Cagraray, Batan, and Rapu-Rapu. The Diocese of Sorsogon covered the civil provinces of Sorsogon and Masbate. The succeeding divisions in the Ecclesiastical jurisdictions took place in the Metropolitan See of Caceres to address the spiritual and pastoral needs of the people. On March 23, 1968, the civil province of Masbate was separated from the Diocese of Sorsogon. The province of Masbate was erected into a Diocese through an Apostolic Constitution Sorsogonensis Diocesis, naming Most Rev. Porfirio Iligan as its first Diocesan Bishop. On May 27, 1974, the civil province of Catanduanes was erected into a Diocese through the Apostolic Letter, Divino Christi Mandato, issued by Pope Paul VI. The first Bishop appointed to the Diocese of Catanduanes was Most Rev. Jose Sorra. On September 1, 1974, the civil province of Camarines Norte was made into a Diocese of Daet through the Apostolic Constitution, Requirit Maximopere, issued by Pope Paul VI. As of 1974, the total Suffragans of the Metropolitan See of Caceres are the five Dioceses namely: Legazpi, Sorsogon, Masbate, Catanduanes and Sorsogon. |
