The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cebu (more formally the Metropolitan Archdiocese of the Most Holy Name of Jesus in Cebu; ; ; ; ) is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the Philippines and one of the ecclesiastical provinces of the Catholic Church in the country. It is composed of the entire civil province of Cebu, including its outer islands of Mactan, Bantayan, and Camotes.The Church of Cebu's Basilica del Santo Niño is named by the Vatican as "mother and head of all churches in the Philippines" (mater et caput... omnium ecclesiarum Insularum Philippinarum). See https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/la/apost_letters/documents/hf_p-vi_apl_19650401_ut-clarificetur.html.John Kingsley Pangan, Church of the Far East (Makati: St. Pauls, 2016), The jurisdiction, Cebu, is considered as the fount of Christianity in the Far East.
The seat of the archdiocese is the Metropolitan Cathedral and Parish of St. Vitalis, more commonly known as the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral. The archdiocese honors Our Lady of Guadalupe de Cebú as its patroness, Vitalis of Milan as its patron and titular saint, and Pedro Calungsod (the second Filipino saint) as its secondary patron saint. Its most recent archbishop is Alberto Uy, who was installed on September 30, 2025. As of 2013, the archdiocese registered a total of 4,609,590 baptized Catholics.
History Magellan's arrival and antecedents The history of the future Archdiocese of Cebu began with the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in Cebu in 1521. The church anchored in that yearCarmelo D. F. Morelos, "'Go… Make Disciples!' – A Pastoral Letter on the Fourth Centenary of the Archdioceses of Manila, Cebu, Cáceres, Nueva Segovia," Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, January 29, 1994, accessed September 6, 2014, http://cbcponline.net/v2/?p=8078 by the native Cebuanos' profession of faith in Christ,Antonio Pigafetta, Magellan's Voyage Around the World, vol. 1, trans. James Alexander Robertson (Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1906), 159. baptism,Antonio Pigafetta, Magellan's Voyage Around the World, vol. 1, trans. James Alexander Robertson (Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1906), 151–155. the daily celebration of the Mass,Antonio Pigafetta, Magellan's Voyage Around the World, vol. 1, trans. James Alexander Robertson (Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1906), 157. and the chaplain of the expedition, Pedro Valderrama being the legitimate pastor for their spiritual needs.
In Cebu the first baptism was made (April 14, 1521); hence, Rajah Humabon and the rest of the natives became the very first Filipino Christians. In the island also was the first Mass in which Filipino converts participated. Also in the territory the first resistance against the Mohammedan advance from the south.Juan de Medina, OSA, "Historia de la Orden de San Agustin de estas Islas Filipinas," in The Philippine Islands 1493–1803, vol. 23, eds. Emma H. Blair, James A. Robertson (Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1903), 185. The first Philippine Christian feast dedicated to the Sto. Niño was instituted and celebrated there. The first recorded confession and the last rites of an accused inhabitant transpired.Résumé of Documents, 153. The very first temples were erected (the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral and Basilica del Santo Niño) in the Philippines.Astrid Sala-Boza, "The Contested Site of the Finding of the Holy Child: Villa San Miguel or San Nicolas (Cebu El Viejo)," Philippine Quarterly of Culture Society 34, (2006): 232. www.jstor.org/stable/29792595; The Philippine Islands, 1493–1803, vol. 2, eds. Emma Helen Blair, James Alexander Robertson (Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1903), 121. The first Christian marriage transpired with Isabel, the niece of Rajah Tupas and Andres, the Greek caulker of Legazpi, and their children baptized representing the first infant baptisms.Résumé of Documents, 140–141.
However, immediately after its inception during the aftermath of the Battle of Mactan, the Church of Cebu experienced decadence due to lack of shepherds to enforce and edify the natives on the faith. Most of the natives materially apostatized, while others clung unto the image of the Santo Niño (the first Christian icon in the Philippines given as a baptismal gift by Magellan). The unintended negligence lasted for 44 years until it was re-established in 1565 by the arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi and Fray Andrés de Urdaneta. The remnant of the Cebuano Church in 1521, as evident in the person of Rajah Tupas, was resuscitated by the Augustinians as an abbey nullius (an equivalent of a diocese)gcatholic.org when the formal evangelization of the Philippines commenced with Urdaneta as the first prelate.The Philippine Islands, 1493–1803, vol. 2, eds. Emma Helen Blair, James Alexander Robertson (Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1903), 33, note 5.Bartholomé de Letona, OSF, The Philippine Islands, 1493–1803, vol. 36, eds. Emma Helen Blair, James Alexander Robertson (Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1906), 210. The oversight of the natives was then succeeded to Fray Diego de Herrera who would later re-baptized Tupas and his servants in 1568. Adelantado Miguel Lopez de Legazpi established his government in Cebu, thus the first capital of the Philippines.
The church expanded from Cebu when the remaining missionaries led by Diego de Herrera were forced northwest temporarily due to conflict with the Portuguese and laid the foundations of the Christian community in Panay in around 1569. In 1570, the second batch of missionaries reached Cebu. The island became the ecclesiastical "seat" as it was the center for evangelization. A notable missionary was Alfonso Jimenez, who travelled and penetrated the Camarines region through the islands of Masbate, Leyte, Samar, and Burias and founded the church there. He was called the first apostle of the region.
By 1571, Herrera who was assigned as chaplain of Legazpi, from Panay advanced further north and founded the local church community in Manila. There, Legazpi transferred the seat of government though Cebu remained the spiritual capital of the country. In 1572, the Spaniards led by Juan de Salcedo marched from Manila further north with the second batch of Augustinian missionaries and pioneered the evangelization to the communities in the Ilocos (starting with Vigan) and the Cagayan regions.
Diocese of Cebu On February 6, 1579, the Philippines' first diocese, the Diocese of Manila, was established as a suffragan diocese of the See of Mexico. On August 14, 1595, Pope Clement VIII issued four bulls to Spain: one with the incipit elevating the See of Manila to a metropolitan archdiocese; and three with the incipit erecting the three suffragan dioceses of Manila, which were the Diocese of Cebu, the Diocese of Nueva Cáceres, and the Diocese of Nueva Segovia. The Diocese of Cebu's first bishop was Pedro de Agurto, an Augustinian. As a diocese, Cebú had a very extensive territory which then included the whole of the Visayas, Mindanao and "more southern islands"; also it extended farther to the Pacific such as the Marianas, Carolines, and Palau.Felipe Redondo y Sendino, Breve reseña de lo que fue y de lo que es la Diócesis de Cebú en las Islas Filipinas, trans. Azucena L. Pace (Cebu City: University of San Carlos Press, 2014), Breve Reseña, 74.
However, it lost territory repeatedly: on May 27, 1865, to establish then Diocese of (Santa Isabel de) Jaro (now an archdiocese) on September 17, 1902, to establish Apostolic Prefecture of Mariana Islands on April 10, 1910, to establish Diocese of Zamboanga and Diocese of Calbayog on July 15, 1932, to establish Diocese of Bacolod
Archdiocese of Cebu On April 28, 1934, Pope Pius XI promulgated an apostolic constitution with the incipit Romanorum Pontificum semper separating the dioceses of Cebu, Calbayog, Jaro, Bacolod, Zamboanga and Cagayan de Oro from the ecclesiastical province of Manila. The same constitution elevated the diocese into an archdiocese while placing all the newly separated dioceses under a new ecclesiastical province with Cebu as the new metropolitan see.Pope Pius XI, Apostolic Constitution separating some dioceses from the ecclesiastical province of Manila to form the new ecclesiastical province of Cebu Romanorum Pontificum semper (April 28, 1934), Acta Apostolicae Sedis 27 (1935), pp.263–264. PROVINCIA ECCLESIASTICA MANILANA DISMEMBRATIO ET NOVA CAEBUANA PROVINCIA ERIGITUR. The last suffragan bishop, Gabriel M. Reyes, was promoted as its first archbishop.
On November 8, 1941, it lost territory to establish Diocese of Tagbilaran as its suffragan.
Cebu was visited by Pope John Paul II in February 1981. In his Homily for Families (February 19, 1981), the supreme pontiff called the island as the birthplace of the faith:
Finding myself in this important city known as the cradle of Christianity in the Philippines, I want to express my deep joy and profound thanksgiving to the Lord of history. The thought that for 450 years the light of the Gospel has shone with undimmed brightness in this land and on its people is cause for great rejoicing.
Between November 10, 1985, and March 1, 1986, the archdiocese held its Fourth Diocesan Synod of Cebu at the Seminaryo Mayor de San Carlos.
It hosted the 51st International Eucharistic Congress from January 24 to 31, 2016.
Sugbuswak: Division to three dioceses Plans to divide the Archdiocese of Cebu was first laid during the pastoral leadership of Cardinal Julio Rosales. It was raised again on August 20, 2002, during the pastoral leadership of then-Archbishop Cardinal Ricardo Vidal.
The plan was revived again on December 31, 2022, when Archbishop Jose S. Palma announced a feasibility study on the planned division of the archdiocese. The archdiocese coined the term "Sugbuswak", derived from "Cebu" and the Cebuano word "buswak", referring to the flowering or blossoming of new dioceses. The plan calls for the erection of two new suffragan dioceses in Danao, which would cover the northern part of the civil province of Cebu; and in Carcar, covering the southern part of the province. The territory of the metropolitan archdiocese would be reduced to the central part of the province, including Cebu City and its neighboring towns, as well as the island of Mactan. The plan aims for better pastoral management in churches.
During its 126th Plenary Assembly in Kalibo, Aklan in July 2023, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) unanimously approved the planned division of the Archdiocese of Cebu. It also received support from the Cebuano people. Archbishop Palma presented the proposal to the Holy See on March 11, 2024, as part of his visit to Pope Francis.
In December 2024, Archbishop José S. Palma suspended indefinitely the celebration of Traditional Tridentine Mass (TLM) until further notice.
Coat of arms
The ecclesiastical arms of the Archdiocese of Cebu was redesigned by a professional Italian heraldic artist, Sig. Marco Foppoli, as commissioned by the priests-secretaries of the Office of the Archbishop in the first quarter of 2021, with the facilitation and benefaction of Msgr. Jan Thomas V. Limchua.
The re-designed coat of arms of the archdiocese consists of a simple yet traditional shield, which is the most commonly used form in ecclesiastical heraldry. In a chapé ("mantled") ployé partition, which is formed by two arched lines drawn from the center chief to the sides, the shield itself is divided into two fields: the upper field, in red (gules); and the lower field, in blue (azure).
The upper field of red represents the Niño de Cebu (Bato Balani sa Gugma, or Magnet of Love), whose very image, which at first was a gift during the first baptism five hundred years ago, has now become the symbol of the Catholic faith in Cebu.