With the intention to reach and serve more people, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma has made his proposal for the division of the Archdiocese of Cebu into three.
Archbishop Jose Palma (Facebook)
The Church leader is set to present his proposal during the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines assembly in July which will be held in Aklan.
“During our assembly, I will have the time to present the proposal. There are various aspects of the proposal,” said Archbishop Palma over Radio Veritas.
The archdiocese, the archbishop said, is currently conducting consultations with the members of the clergy and the lay faithful on the proposal to divide the archdiocese.
Based on the proposal, Archbishop Palma said the archdiocese will be divided into three: the archdiocese as the Mother Church, and a diocese will be set up in Northern Cebu and in Southern Cebu.
“This plan aims to serve more people, especially the far-flung areas and islands in the province,” the prelate stressed.
Carcar City is being considered as the site of the diocese in Southern Cebu while Danao City or Bogo City is being considered for the diocese in Northern Cebu.
The proposal is aimed at strengthening the church’s mission to reach and serve more people by the biggest archdiocese in the country which serves more than 5 million Roman Catholics.
With Archbishop Palma in the archdiocese are Auxiliary Bishops Midyphil Billones and Ruben Labajo, retired Bishops Emilio Bataclan and Antonio Ranola, and around 600 priests.
The Archdiocese of Cebu is expected to submit its proposal to the Vatican in January for the approval of the Holy Father.
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