Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Jaro

Archdiocese of Jaro Archdiocesis Jarensis Arkidiyosesis sang Jaro Arkidiyosesis ng Jaro Arquidiócesis de Jaro
Catholic
Jaro Cathedral
Coat of arms
Location
Country	Philippines
Territory	Iloilo Guimaras Negros Occidental Antique
Ecclesiastical province	Jaro
Headquarters	Jaro,Iloilo City
Coordinates	10°43′24″N 122°33′22″E / 10.7234°N 122.556°E / 10.7234; 122.556
Statistics
Area	5,303 km2 (2,047 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2021) 3,668,000 3,049,000[1] (83.1%)
Parishes	95
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	May 27, 1865; 159 years ago (May 27, 1865) (Diocese) June 29, 1951; 73 years ago (June 29, 1951) (Archdiocese)
Cathedral	Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Elizabeth of Hungary
Patron saint	Elizabeth of Hungary (archdiocesan) Our Lady of the Candles (Western Visayas)
Secular priests	166
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Metropolitan Archbishop	Jose Romeo Lazo
Suffragans	Patricio Buzon (Bacolod) Louie P. Galbines (Kabankalan) Gerardo A. Alminaza (San Carlos) Marvyn A. Maceda (San Jose de Antique)
Map
Jurisdiction of the metropolitan see within the Philippines.
Website
Archdiocese of Jaro

The Archdiocese of Jaro is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church headquartered in Jaro, Iloilo City, Philippines. Its episcopal see is at the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, also the National Shrine of Our Lady of Candles, as its seat.^[2] The metropolitan archdiocese covers the provinces of Iloilo, Guimaras, Antique, and Negros Occidental. Its titular patron saint is Elizabeth of Hungary, whose feast is celebrated on November 17.^[2]

The Archdiocese of Jaro is one of the oldest episcopal sees in the country. It was established on May 27, 1865, through a papal bull of Pope Pius IX,^[3] according to a document signed by Archbishop Gregorio Martinez, then archbishop of Manila. The diocese was created from the territory of the Archdiocese of Manila. Its first bishop was Mariano Cuartero, a Dominican missionary in the Philippines, who took possession of the diocese, on April 25, 1868.^[3] It is also one of the largest episcopal sees during the Spanish colonial era encompassing the whole island of Panay (Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras and Iloilo provinces), Mindoro, Romblon, Negros (Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental provinces), Palawan, Davao, Sulu, Cotabato and Zamboanga Peninsula as part of its jurisdiction.

On April 10, 1910, it lost some of its territories to the newly created Diocese of Zamboanga and Apostolic Prefecture of Palawan. Negros Oriental (Dumaguete) was also its part but became a separate diocese under Cebu. Later, three other ecclesiastical jurisdictions were established from its territory: the Diocese of Bacolod (July 15, 1932), Apostolic Prefecture of Mindoro (July 2, 1936), and the Diocese of Capiz (January 27, 1951).^[2]

On April 28, 1934, Pope Pius XI promulgated apostolic constitution Romanorum Pontificum semper separating the dioceses of Cebu, Calbayog, Jaro, Bacolod, Zamboanga and Cagayan de Oro from the ecclesiastical province of Manila. The same constitution elevated the diocese of Cebu into an archdiocese while placing all the newly separated dioceses under a new ecclesiastical province with Cebu as the new metropolitan see.^[4] On June 29, 1951, it was raised as a metropolitan archdiocese by Pope Pius XII.^[3] On March 24, 1962, it lost some territory to establish the Territorial Prelature (now Diocese) of San Jose de Antique.^[2]

The ecclesiastical province of Jaro consists of the metropolitan archdiocese of Jaro and its suffragan dioceses of Bacolod, San Carlos, and Kabankalan, all in the province Negros Occidental, and San Jose de Antique on the island of Panay.^[2]