The Roman Catholic Diocese of Baguio (Latin: ''Dioecesis Baghiopolitana'') is a

Latin Rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church '' sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language onc ...

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of sever ...

of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia on

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, a ...

island in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Its see is Our Lady of Atonement Cathedral in

Baguio Baguio ( , ), officially the City of Baguio ( ilo, Siudad ti Baguio; fil, Lungsod ng Baguio), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines" ...

Benguet Benguet (), officially the Province of Benguet ('';'' ; pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Benguet; ilo, Probinsia ti Benguet; ), is a landlocked province of the Philippines located in the southern tip of the Cordillera Administrative Region in the islan ...

Cordillera Administrative Region The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR; ilo, Rehion/Deppaar Administratibo ti Kordiliera; fil, Rehiyong Pampangasiwaan ng Cordillera), also known as the Cordillera Region and Cordillera (), is an administrative region in the Philippines, ...

. The Bishop of Baguio is Victor Bendico who was enthroned in 2017 to replace Emeritus Bishop Carlito "Otto" J. Cenzon on January 10, 2017.

History

Coat of Arms of the Apostolic Vicariate of Mountain Province

The Diocese is one of the oldest ecclesiastical territories in the Philippines. It was established as the

Apostolic Prefecture An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

of Mountain Province (Latin: ''Praefectura Apostolica Montana'') on July 15, 1932. The territory that the Diocese of Baguio now spans was split from the bishopric of Nueva Segovia. On June 10, 1948, the apostolic prefecture was elevated to the Apostolic Vicariate of Mountain Province (Montañosa), entitling it to a

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

.Pope Pius XII, Apostolic Constitution elevating the Apostolic Prefecture of the Mountain Provinces into an Apostolic Vicariate
Quo inter infideles
' (10 June 1948), ''Acta Apostolicae Sedis'' 40 (1948), pp. 535-536. PRAEFECTURA APOSTOLICA MONTANA IN VICARIATUM APOSTOLICUM, IISDEM SERVATIS NOMINE AC LIMITIBUS, EVEHITUR. The prefecture received a papal visit from

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

in February 1981. In 1992, the prefecture was renamed the Apostolic Vicariate of Baguio, after ceding territories to form the Apostolic Vicariate of Bontoc-Lagawe and the Apostolic Vicariate of Tabuk. On June 24, 2004, the prefecture became the Diocese of Baguio, losing its missionary pre-diocesan status and becoming a

of its mother Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia.

Ordinaries and auxiliary episcopate

These ordinaries are all Latin Rite clergy, who are mostly members of missionary congregations.

Apostolic Prefect of Mountain Province

Apostolic Vicar of Mountain Province (Montañosa)

Apostolic Vicars

Bishops

;''Auxiliary Bishop''

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic with incumbent biography links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baguio, Diocese Roman Catholic dioceses in the Philippines Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Nueva Segovia Baguio Religion in Benguet Christian organizations established in 1932 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century