Philippines: Cebu Archdiocese Pushes for the Creation of Two New Dioceses Ahead of the Top Prelate’s Retirement in Over a Year

Prior to his retirement in over a year, when he reached his canonical limit as bishop, the prelate of the Cebu Archdiocese advocated for the establishment of two additional dioceses.

His retirement as Cebu prelate is still a year and 3 months away, but each time Cebu Archbishop Jose S. Palma attends official Church events or social gatherings organized by the laity, he invariably touches on his leaving office. He laces up the message with humor, saying, consider it like a valedictory.

Archbishop Palma turns 75 on March 19, 2025. Under canon law, 75 is the mandatory retirement age for bishops. However, it will be up to Pope Francis whether to accept Palma’s retirement when he files it on his 75th birthday. 

Palma was installed Cebu Archbishop in 2011 after Pope Francis appointed him to replace Ricardo Cardinal Vidal who served as Cebu Archbishop until the age of 79. 

Palma’s previous assignments were as Bishop of Calbayog (1999–2006) and Archbishop of Palo (2006–2010). He has logged 47 years in the service of the Church.

A year after becoming Cebu Archbishop, he organized the archdiocese to get ready for the canonization of San Pedro Calungsod, the first Visayan saint, which Ricardo Cardinal Vidal had started.

After the 2012 fiesta-like event, he grappled with the devastation wrought by four (4) Major natural calamities (killer earthquake that rocked the central islands in October 2013, Supertyphoon  Haiyan in November 2013, the global Covid 19 pandemic in 2020 and Typhoon Odette in 2021).

What followed was a surfeit of major ecclesiastical events.

With the support of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines and under Palma’s leadership, the Cebu archdiocese hosted the 51st International Eucharistic Congress in 2016, anchored the 500 Years of Christianity celebration in 2021, National Mission Congress from 2021 to 2022. The Synod on Synodality in 2022 likewise tapped on the archdiocesan resources, both material and physical.

As the old year slowly bowed out, the Archdiocese hosted the national clergy retreat on November 7–9. Two weeks later, Palma presided over the 13th General Pastoral Assembly to tackle a very important ecclesiastical event, even as he helped host the 23rd Asia Pacific Congress on Faith, Life, and Family in partnership with Human Life International and the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on November 24–26.

The challenges related to the magnitude of these catastrophic disasters and major Church milestones define Palma’s decade-old regime as Cebu Archbishop. On top of his uncanny ability to cope with the demands of international gatherings and govern the country’s biggest archdiocese (4.5 million Catholics tended by 600 priests), he is also known to be friendly, approachable and a tireless pastor.

Presiding over the New Year’s Eve Mass at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, Archbishop Palma touched on another major initiative that could well crown his service: the establishment of two proposed daughter sees in the Archdiocese of Cebu. 

Before the final blessing, Palma read the Statement of the 13th General Pastoral Assembly. It gave an overview of the extensive process known as “Sugbuswak” (a portmanteau of Sugbo, referring to Cebu, and buswak meaning to bloom).

According to reports, at least two previous papal nuncios had brought up the idea, indicating that the Vatican itself was interested in having preliminary discussions on the subject. The ball started rolling in 2002 when the proposal was formally lodged as an agenda item during the Cebu Archdiocesan Priests’ Congress under then Archbishop Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal.

It took another two decades for Palma to pick up where his predecessor left off.

On December 20, 2022, he convened the Archdiocese Board of Consultors and tackled the proposal billed as “Feasibility Study on the Erection of a New Ecclesiastical Circumscription in the Archdiocese of Cebu.”

The initiative calls for the creation of the Diocese of Carcar in southern Cebu and the Diocese of Danao in the north. Central Cebu remains the seat of the Archbishop and head of the Metropolitan Province of Cebu.

After the Board of Consultors gave its unanimous approval, the Archbishop decreed an “ecclesial discernment” for Sugbuswak. It was to fuel a movement by members of the laity and the clergy to research geography, demographics, finances, institutions and formation.

The preliminary proposal was presented to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines on July 4–7, 2023. The CBCP’s endorsement of the proposal is needed before it can be submitted to the Vatican for final approval. Subsequent meetings, consultations, surveys, formations, and recollections followed, culminating in the watershed 13th General Pastoral Assembly on November 14–16, 2023.

In acknowledging the hard work of all Church’s stakeholders, Archbishop Palma said he hopes that the momentum of the work will be sustained, for the “ecclesiastical watershed” to “continue overflowing as pathways to the hearts of all the faithful.”- Malou Guanzon-Apalisok