Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Jaro

The front facade of Jaro Cathedral showing the stairs above the door leading to the statue of Our Lady of Candles.

The diocese of Jaro whose Patron Saint is St. Elizabeth of Hungary was officially erected by virtue of the Papal bull "Qui Ab Initio" of Pope Pius IX. The bull was issued in Rome on May 27, 1865. On October 10, 1867 the decree took effect and Jaro was made an Episcopal See, according to the document signed by Dr. D. Gregorio Meliton Martinez, then Archbishop of Manila and executor-delegate of the decree. It is worth noting that this "decretum executorium" was also signed by the Rev. Jose Burgos, Pro-Secretary, a secular priest who became one of the outstanding martyr-heroes of the country. Jaro was separated from the now Archdiocese of Cebu and became a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Manila. Its territories at creation comprised the islands of Panay, (now composed of the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz, Antique and Aklan), Guimaras, Negros (now the twin provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental), Romblon and Palawan, as well as the provinces of Cotabato, Zamboanga, Davao and Sulu of Mindanao. Sr. Dr. Fr. Mariano Cuartero, OP, became its first bishop on April 25, 1868.

In the 20th century the diocese was further divided to form new ecclesiastical jurisdictions. Zamboanga was made a separate diocese in 1910, while Palawan was made an apostolic prelature in the same year; then Bacolod in 1933, Capiz in 1951 and finally the Prelature of San Jose, Antique in 1962 as suffragans.

Concurrently with the elevation of Jaro to an archdiocese, the first Filipino bishop, the Most Rev. Jose Maria Cuenco, DD, PhD, LIB, was raised to the rank of metropolitan archbishop, thereby making him the first Archbishop of Jaro.

On January 17, 1976, Pope Paul VI elevated Capiz to the rank of archdiocese, with the dioceses of Romblon and Kalibo as its suffragans. The Archdiocese of Jaro was left with the dioceses of Bacolod (which eventually was divided into three (3) dioceses, to wit, Bacolod, San Carlos, and Kabankalan) and San Jose de Antique as its suffragans.

On 21 February 1981, Pope John Paul II visited the archdiocese and crowned the image of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria at the facade of Jaro Cathedral.[11]

Last 2012, the relics of Saint Clare and the pilgrim image of St. Pedro Calungsod visited the archdiocese.

Last March 15–17, 2013, the pilgrim relics of St. Therese of the Child Jesus visited the archdiocese a third time.

The current archbishop is the Most Reverend Jose Romeo O. Lazo D.D. He was born on 23 January 1949 in San Jose de Buenavista, Antique He attended the St. Vincent Ferrer Major Seminary in Jaro, and was ordained a priest on 1 April 1975 in San Jose de Buenavista, Antique. After his ordination, he pursued higher studies at the East Asian Pastoral Institute, Quezon City in and the Institute of Pastoral Theology in Berkeley, California, United States.

In 2003, Bishop Lazo was appointed Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kalibo, and was ordained bishop on 29 December 2003. Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jose de Antique in 2009. On 14 February 2018, Pope Francis appointed him as the Archbishop of Jaro following the retirement of Archbishop Angel Lagdameo.[12] Archbishop Lagdameo served the Archdiocese for 17 years.

List of Bishops and Archbishops of Jaro

No.	Picture	Name	From	Until
1		Mariano Cuartero y Medina, O. P.	20 September 1867	16 July 1884
2		Leandro Arrúe Agudo, O.A.R.	27 March 1885	24 October 1897
3		Andrés Ferrero y Malo de San José, O.A.R.	24 March 1898	27 October 1903
4		Frederick Zadok Rooker	12 June 1903	20 September 1907
5		Dennis Joseph Dougherty	19 April 1908	6 December 1915
6		Maurice Patrick Foley	6 September 1916	7 August 1919
7		James Paul McCloskey	8 March 1920	10 April 1945
8		José María Cuenco	24 November 1945	8 October 1972
9		Jaime Lachica Sin	8 October 1972	21 Jan 1974
10		Artemio G. Casas	11 May 1974	25 October 1985
11		Alberto Jover Piamonte	2 April 1986	17 December 1998
12		Angel Lagdameo	11 March 2000	14 February 2018
13		Jose Romeo O. Lazo	14 February 2018	incumbent

Living

• Jose Romeo O. Lazo (Archbishop: 14 February 2018 – present)
• Fernando R. Capalla (Priest: 18 March 1961 to 2 April 1975)
• Angel N. Lagdameo (Archbishop Emeritus: 11 March 2000 to 14 February 2018)
• Jose Serofia Palma (Priest: 21 Aug 1976 to 28 Nov 1997)
• Emmanuel Celeste Trance (Priest: 17 May 1978 to 14 May 2004)
• Most Rev. Gerardo Alimane Alminaza, D.D. (Former Auxiliary Bishop:29 May 2008 to 14 Sep 2013)

Deceased

• Leandro Arrúe Agudo, O.A.R. † (Bishop: 27 Mar 1885 to 24 Oct 1897)
• Teofilo Bastida Camomot † (Auxiliary Bishop: 23 Mar 1955 to 10 Jun 1958)
• Artemio G. Casas † (Archbishop: 11 May 1974 to 25 Oct 1985)
• Mariano Cuartero y Medina, O.P. † (Bishop: 20 Sep 1867 to 16 Jul 1884)
• José María Cuenco † (Auxiliary Bishop: 22 Nov 1941; Bishop: 24 Nov 1945; Archbishop: 29 Jun 1951 to 8 Oct 1972)
• Dennis Joseph Dougherty † (Bishop: 19 Apr 1908 to 6 Dec 1915)
• Andrés Ferrero y Malo de San José, O.A.R. † (Bishop: 24 Mar 1898 to 27 Oct 1903)
• Maurice Patrick Foley † (Bishop: 6 Sep 1916 to 7 Aug 1919)
• James Paul McCloskey † (Bishop: 8 Mar 1920 to 10 Apr 1945)
• Juan Nicolasora Nilmar † (Auxiliary Bishop: 20 Feb 1959 to 3 Jan 1967)
• Alberto Jover Piamonte † (Priest: 22 Mar 1958; Auxiliary Bishop: 28 Dec 1974; Archbishop: 2 Apr 1986 to 17 Dec 1998)
• Frederick Zadok Rooker † (Bishop: 12 Jun 1903 to 20 Sep 1907)
• Jaime Lachica Sin † (Priest: 3 Apr 1954; Auxiliary Bishop: 10 Feb 1967; Coadjutor Archbishop: 15 Jan 1972; Archbishop: 8 Oct 1972 to 21 Jan 1974)

• Diocese of Bacolod, in northwestern Negros Occidental
• Diocese of Kabankalan, in southern Negros Occidental
• Diocese of San Carlos, in northeastern Negros Occidental
• Diocese of San Jose de Antique, in Antique

• Catholic Church in the Philippines

• Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines
• Archdiocese of Jaro on the Catholic Encyclopedia
• Archdiocese of Jaro on Catholic-Hierarchy.org