Why the Philippines faces nine vacant dioceses

 

Manila, Philippines, Jun 2, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

With multiple episcopal sees standing vacant and others soon to be without bishops, Asia’s largest Catholic nation faces a potential pastoral leadership crisis as the Church awaits new appointments from Rome.

The Philippines, home to 110 million people, with eight out of ten identifying as Roman Catholic, currently has three vacant sees.

Current dioceses without bishops

The Diocese of Boac in Marinduque province has been without a bishop since Sept. 21, 2024, after its local ordinary, Bishop Marcelino Antonio M. Maralit, was transferred to the Diocese of San Pablo, Laguna. Maralit is the current chair of the Episcopal Commission on Social Communication of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

According to the 2023 Annuario Pontificio, the annual Holy See directory which lists the popes and all officials of the Holy See’s departments, the Diocese of Boac has a total population of 256,611 with 88% of the population identifying as Catholic. Seventy-nine priests serve the diocese, with a 1 to 3,248 priest-to-lay ratio. The diocese is recognized for its social action initiatives and its collaboration with Basic Christian Communities, small, grassroots groups of Christians that gather for prayer, fellowship, Bible study, and social justice activities.

The Apostolic Vicariate of Tabuk has been without an apostolic vicar since Dec. 8, 2024, when its former apostolic vicar, Bishop Prudencio P. Andaya Jr., CICM, was made bishop of the Diocese of Cabanatuan.

The Tabuk vicariate encompasses the highland provinces of Kalinga and Apayao, with a total population of 493,960. Only 31 priests serve the 75% of its population who identify as Catholic, mostly from the indigenous Igorot tribe. That translates to a 1 to 11,966 priest per laity ratio.

The bishop’s chair of the Diocese of San Jose de Nueva Ecija has been empty since Dec. 12, 2024. Its former bishop, Roberto Mallari, was transferred to the Diocese of Tarlac. The diocese is located in the province known as the “rice granary of the Philippines.” Most of its residents are farmers who produce rice, corn, sugar cane, coconuts, mangoes, onions, fruits, and vegetables.

Approaching retirement

In addition to these empty sees awaiting new bishops, others may soon require new episcopal leaders.

In March of this year alone, three local ordinaries reached the optional canonical retirement age of 75 for bishops: Archbishop Angelito Lampo, OMI, of Cotabato on Mar. 1, Bishop Patricio Buzon, SDB of Bacolod on Mar. 14, and Archbishop Jose Palma of Cebu on Mar. 19.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a “local ordinary” is a bishop appointed by the pope to care for a local Church; to teach, govern, and sanctify the faithful of his diocese, sharing these duties with the priests and deacons who serve under him.

Other local ordinaries in the Philippines who will turn 75 in the coming months are: Bishop Jose Corazon Tala-oc of Kalibo (Jun. 16), Archbishop Marlo Perlata of Nueva Segovia (Jul. 13), and Bishop Jacinto Jose of Urdaneta (Oct. 29).

If the Holy Father accepts the retirement of these bishops, the Philippines will have nine sede vacante sees.

Most of these dioceses are located in provinces where the majority of its residents are workers in the agriculture sector. Bacolod and Cebu are exceptions, as they are located in bustling cities.

Special focus: Cebu archdiocese

Cebu, known as the “cradle of Christianity in the Philippines,” is the largest diocese in Asia — home to 4.7 million Catholics (87% of the population). It has 176 parishes and nine missions ministered by 626 priests (348 diocesan, 278 religious) and 2,035 religious (1,010 brothers and 1,025 sisters). According to the 2024 Annuario Pontificio, it has 144 seminarians.

The bishops’ conference approved the Cebu archdiocese’s recommendation to split the diocese into two suffragan dioceses: Danao in the north and Carcar to its south, thereby giving them their own bishops. (A suffragan diocese is typically a smaller diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the larger Metropolitan Archdiocese.)

Impact on Catholic communities

Filling these vacancies is not only a ministerial role of the pope, who has the exclusive right and authority to appoint a bishop, but also a necessity to ensure that the people of God have a shepherd looking after their spiritual and, sometimes, socio-economic needs.

“A vacant see creates a leadership vacuum. Appointing bishops to vacant sees means not depriving the people of a shepherd,” said Father Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the CBCP’s episcopal commission on public affairs.

Many Filipinos, even when they are non-Catholics, look to Catholic bishops for moral guidance on socio-political issues. The popular late Cardinal Jaime Sin, when archbishop of Manila, was a vocal opponent of the dictatorial regime of Ferdinand Marcos, Sr., father of the current president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr.

Cardinal Sin was instrumental in two historic peaceful revolutions in the country — the People Power Revolution of 1986 and the 2001 revolt that forced the resignation of then-president Joseph Estrada.

During the tumultuous presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, the CBCP issued a pastoral statement condemning the rampant extrajudicial killings of drug suspects, earning the ire of the president. Duterte once suggested that Filipinos should “kill and steal from” Catholic bishops.

Vatican appointment process

While Secillano stressed the importance of a local bishop setting the pastoral direction and priorities of the local church or diocese that are beneficial to the people, he said the Holy See does not rush the appointment of bishops so that it can fill the leadership vacuum. “There should be utmost prudence in doing it,” he said.