Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cebu

The history of the future Archdiocese of Cebu began with the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in Cebu in 1521.[12] The Church anchored in that year[13] by the native Cebuanos' profession of faith in Christ,[14] baptism,[15] the daily celebration of the Mass,[16] and the chaplain of the expedition, Fr. Pedro Valderrama being the legitimate pastor for their spiritual needs. However, immediately after its inception during the aftermath of 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)[17] when the formal evangelization of the Philippines commenced with Fr. Urdaneta as the first prelate.[18][19][20] 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 of Panay

The Church expanded from Cebu when the remaining missionaries led by Fr. Diego de Herrera when they were forced northwest temporarily due to conflict with the Portuguese and laid the foundations of the Christian community in the Panay in around 1569.[3][6]

• The Church of Camarines

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 Fr. Alfonso Jimenez, O.S.A., 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.[3][6]

• The Church of Manila

By 1571, Fr. 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.[3][6]

• The Church of Ilocos-Cagayan

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.[3][6]

On February 6, 1579, the Philippines' first diocese, the Diocese of Manila, had been established as a suffragan of the See of Mexico. On August 14, 1595, Pope Clement VIII issued four bulls to Spain: one with the incipit Super universas orbis ecclesias[21] elevating the See of Manila to metropolitan status; and three with the incipit Super specula militantis Ecclesiae[22] erecting the three suffragan dioceses of Manila, which were the Diocese of Cebu, the Diocese of Nueva Cáceres, and the Diocese of Nueva Segovia.[23] The Diocese of Cebu's first bishop was Pedro de Agurto, an Augustinian.[3][23] As a diocese, Cebú had a very extensive territory which then included the whole of the Visayas, Mindanao[12] and "more southern islands";[24] also it extended farther to the Pacific such as the Marianas,[25] Carolines, and Palau.[26]

However it lost territory repeatedly:

• on 1865.05.27 to establish then Diocese of (Santa Isabel de) Jaro (now an Archdiocese)
• on 1902.09.17 to establish Apostolic Prefecture of Mariana Islands
• on 1910.04.10 to establish Diocese of Zamboanga and Diocese of Calbayog
• on 1932.07.15 to establish Diocese of Bacolod

On April 28, 1934, it was elevated to a Metropolitan Archdiocese with the last suffragan bishop Gabriel M. Reyes 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 1981. Between November 10, 1985 to March 1, 1986, the archdiocese held its Fourth Diocesan Synod of Cebu at the Seminaryo Mayor de San Carlos. Recently, It hosted the 51st International Eucharistic Congress from January 24 to 31, 2016.

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.[27] 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.[28] The very first temples were erected (the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral and Basilica del Santo Niño) in the Philippines.[29] 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.[30]

In the Apostolic Letter Ut Clarificetur, on the conferring the titles and privileges of the basilica, Pope Paul VI in 1965 described the Cebu's now Basilica del Santo Niño as the "Mother and Head of all Churches in the Philippines" (mater et caput... omnium ecclesiarum Insularum Philippinarum).[31] The same Paul VI also named the basilica the "symbol of the birth and growth of Christianity in the Philippines."[32]

Pope John Paul II, in his Homily for Families in Cebu (February 19, 1981), 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.[33]