Diocese of Masbate
Masbaten(sis)
Suffragan diocese · Latin Church · Masbate, Philippines
The Diocese of Masbate is a Latin Church suffragan see of the Archdiocese of Caceres, covering Masbate province. Erected in 1968, its seat is the Saint Anthony of Padua Cathedral, and the see has been sede vacante since the death of Bishop Jose Bantolo in December 2025.
The see
- Rank
- Suffragan diocese
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 23 March 1968
- Latin
- Masbaten(sis)
- Patron
- Anthony of Padua
- Annuario code
- 001002176
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 917,532
- Population
- 983,172
- Catholic shareof the people living within its bounds
- 93.3%
- Priests
- 60
- Catholics per priest
- 15,292
- Extent
- 7,000 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 131
Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.
The bishop
The register holds no ordinary for this see. Where a chair is vacant the vacancy is the fact, and it is recorded rather than filled in. See the bishop.
The cathedral
Saint Anthony of Padua Cathedral stands in Masbate, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.
On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.
The province of Caceres
A suffragan of Archdiocese of Caceres.
The sees of this province:
- Archdiocese of CaceresCaceres
- Diocese of DaetDaet
- Diocese of LegazpiLegazpi
- Diocese of LibmananLibmanan
- Diocese of SorsogonSorsogon
- Diocese of ViracVirac
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
A Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in the Philippines, the Diocese of Masbate (Latin: Dioecesis Masbatensis) has as its bishop's seat the Cathedral Parish of Saint Anthony of Padua along Quezon Street in Masbate City. Saint Anthony of Padua is its patron. The diocese, which has known no jurisdictional changes, is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Cáceres.
How to reach it
- Diocesan offices
- Diocesan Pastoral Center, Masbate City, 5400 Masbate, Philippines
- Telephone and fax
- [056]333-2202
This see keeps no website of its own, so the address of its diocesan offices is published here: withholding it would protect nothing and leave a reader with nowhere to go. Where a see publishes its own site, the register sends you there instead.
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Compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. Corrections: hello@catholicintelligence.com.