Catholic Population: At present, Caceres has a total population of 1,443,367. 93.9 % or 1,356,565 are baptized Catholics distributed in 84 parishes.

Seminaries: At Present the Archdiocese is blessed with __ number of priests. With three seminaries: the Holy Pre-College, Minor and Major Seminaries, the average number ordained priest per year is eight (8). Last 2013 – the High School Minor Seminary was re-opened.

Ratio of Priests and Population: The Archdiocese has 274 Diocesan and religious priests and deacons and a Catholic population of 1,356,565. Thus, the ratio is 1: 4,950 or One ordained minister per 4,950 Catholics.

Parishes: It has 90 parishes. 50 of these were opened since 1990.

HISTORY

The Diocese of Cáceres was established as the suffragan of Manila on August 14, 1595.[1] This was by virtue of the Papal Bull “Super specula militantis ecclesiae” issued by Clement VIII. The diocese extended over the provinces of Camarines and Albay as far as and including the islands of Ticao, Masbate, Burias and Catanduanes; the province of Tayabas as far as and including Lucban; and, in the contracosta of Mauban to Binangonan, Polo, Baler and Casiguran. The official name given to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction is “Ecclesia Cacerensis in Indiis Orientalius.” The name was taken from “Ciudad de Cáceres,” also indicated as the seat of the diocese. Friar Luís de Maldonado, OFM was appointed the first bishop of the Diocese of Cáceres. It was elevated to the status of archdiocese on June 29, 1951 through the virtue of the Papal Bull “Quo in Philippine Republica” by Pope Pius XII. The Papal Bull also created its two Suffragan Sees: The Diocese of Legazpi and Sorsogon.

The Archbishop Leonard Legaspi O.P., who was also the first Filipino Rector Magnificus of the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, and the first Vicar of the Dominican Province of the Philippines.

According to a Holy See Press Office Vatican Information Service (VIS) online news release, on Saturday, September 8, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI had appointed Bishop Prelate of the Roman Catholic Territorial Prelature of Infanta Rolando J. Tria Tirona, O.C.D., as Metropolitan Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cáceres, to succeed the retiring Archbishop Legaspi.

Foundation of the Diocese and the Territory

Evangelized first by the Augustinians in 1569, then by the  Franciscans in 1578 who did the systematic evangelization, the ‘Diocesis de Caceres’ was established by Pope Clement VIII in 1595 along with the Dioceses of Nueva Segovia and Cebu as suffragans of Manila.  It later came to be known as ‘Diocesis de Nueva Caceres’. The ecclesiastical territory of Nueva Caceres included the whole Region of Bikol, the Quezon Provinces, up to Palanan, Isabela.  It was the smallest of the four ecclesiastical territories at the time.

Highlights and Contributions
The history of the Diocese includes the following highlights:

• In 1706, Bishop Andres Gonzales, O.P., ordained the first Bicolano and second Filipino priest in the the person of Don Gregorio Cabalquinto.
• In 1710, Padre Miguel Robles de Covarubbias  introduced the devotion to  Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia.
• In 1797, the Casa de Clerigos (seminary) was estalished during the incumbency of Bishop Domingo Collantes, O.P.
• In 1865, Bishop Francisco Gainza, O.P., invited the Vincentians to sytematize seminary formation and the Daughters of Charity to open the Colegio de Sta Isabel, the first normal school for girls in the Philippines.  The seminary and the colegio were best centers of learning outside Manila.  Bishop Gainza initiated ecclesiastical reforms and fostered closer relationship with the Holy See.
• In 1905, Msgr. Jorge Barlin was appointed Bishop of Nueva Caceres. He was the very first Filipino Bishop. Barlin prevented the growth of a Nationalist schismatic movement when he won the supreme court case against the aglipayans.

Mother of New Dioceses

• After more than three centuries since its foundation, Caceres gave birth to the Diocese of Lipa in 1910, from which later came forth the Dioceses of Lucena San Pablo Gumaca and Infant .  Caceres became a purely Bikol territory.
• In 1951, Caceres was elevated into an Archdiocese, giving birth to the Dioceses of Legaspi and Sorsogon. From these two came the Dioceses of Masbate and Virac.
• In 1974, the Diocese of Daet was separated from Caceres.
• In 1990, the first District of Camarines Sur, came to be the Prelature of Libmanan. Last year, 2009, Libmanan was elevated into a Diocese. From the 56 original parishes of the Archdiocese, 18 were given to the newly created prelature.

Suffragan Dioceses

DIOCESE OF DAET	DIOCESE OF LEGAZPI	DIOCESE OF LIBMANAN	DIOCESE OF MASBATE	DIOCESE OF SORSOGON	DIOCESE OF VIRAC

Ordinaries