Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lipa

Archbishop of Lipa
Archbishopric
catholic
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Incumbent: Ramon Arguelles
Country	Philippines
Province	Ecclesiastical Province of Lipa
Archdiocese	Archdiocese of Lipa
Cathedral	Metropolitan Cathedral of San Sebastian
First incumbent	Joseph Petrelli
Formation	Bishopric in 1910 Archbishopric in 1972
Website	Archbishop of Lipa

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lipa is the head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lipa and the Metropolitan Bishop of the suffragan dioceses of Boac, Gumaca, Lucena and the Prelature of Infanta.

History

When the original Diocese of Lipa was created in April 10, 1910, the Bishop of Lipa had authority over a very vast region of a mostly homogenous Tagalog population. The Bishop used to oversee the Roman Catholics in the provinces of Batangas, Laguna, Quezon, Marinduque and Mindoro.

In 1936, the first territorial re-organisation of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lipa was promulgated with the creation of the Apostolic Prelature of Calapan, thus separating the province of Mindoro to the Archdiocese. This was followed by the creation of the Diocese of Lucena and the Prelature of Infanta in 1950.

Another re-organisation happened in 1967 when the province of Laguna was raised to the rank of a diocese under the titular Diocese of San Pablo. The Diocese of Boac in Marinduque was created in 1977 and that of Gumaca in 1984. Both dioceses were part of the Diocese of Lucena before their establishment. In 1983 the new Apostolic Vicariate of San Jose in Occidental Mindoro was created.

Today the Archdiocese of Lipa is for the province of Batangas alone. But the population has multiplied many times over. The archdiocese is divided into 6 vicariates, each headed by a vicar forane . Except for the parishes in Vicariate IV which are run by the Oblates of St. Joseph, all other parishes are run by the diocesan clergy. There are 49 parishes in all, served by 143 priests. 122 of them diocesan. There are 13 religious brothers, and 197 religious sisters. Catholic schools number 23, high school seminaries 2 and college seminaries 3. Two pastoral centers are being maintained.

Past and Present Prelates of Lipa

No.	Incumbent	Tenure		Notes
		From	Until
1	Joseph Petrelli †	Apr 12, 1910 Appointed	Mar 30, 1915	Appointed as the first Bishop of the Diocese of Lipa; later appointed as official to the Roman Curia
2	Alfredo Verzosa y Florentin †	06 Sept 1916	Feb 25, 1951	Retired from office
3	Alejandro Olalia †	Dec 28, 1953	Jan 2, 1973	Died in office
4	Ricardo Vidal	Aug 22, 1973	Apr 13, 1981	Later appointed as the Archbishop of Cebu
5	Mariano Gaviola y Garcés †	Apr 13, 1981	Dec 30, 1992
6	Gaudencio Rosales	Dec 30, 1992	15 Sept 2003	Later appointed as the Archbishop of Manila
7	Ramon Arguelles	May 14, 2004	present	Seventh archbishop of Lipa

The Present Archbishop

The present Archbishop of Lipa is the Most Reverend Ramon Cabrera Arguelles.

1. Most Reverend Ramon Cabrera Arguelles (May 14, 2004–present)
   1. Ramon Cabrera Arguelles was born in Batangas City, Philippines on November 12, 1944. He attended Batangas South Elementary School from grades 1 to 4 (1951–1955) and St. Bridget's College from grade 5 to 2nd year high school (1955–1959). He finished 2nd to 5th year high school at Our Lady of Guadalupe Minor Seminary in Makati City (1959–1963). He studied philosophy (1963–1966) and theology (1966–1970) at the San Carlos Seminary in Makati City.
   2. On Dec. 21, 1969, he was ordained to the priesthood. He was ordained bishop on Jan. 6, 1994. On May 14, 2004, he was appointed Archbishop of Lipa.
   3. He studied for the Bachelor of Sacred Theology and Licentiate in Sacred Theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome (1972–1976) where he also studied sociology (1974–1976)
   4. Other Studies: French, Universite d'Ete in Paris, France (1973); German, Goethe Institute, Passau, Germany (Summer 1976); Teresa de Avila, Centre Spirituel, France (1981–1982); Tertianship, Nemi Renewal Institute, Rome (July–December 1988); Poustinia, Madonna House, Comberemere, Ontario, Canada (December 1988-February 1989); Apostolic Spirituality, St. Bueno's, North Wales (February–May 1989)
   5. His priestly ministry began when he served as assistant parish priest at San Jose de Navotas in Navotas City, Metro Manila (1970–1972). He also served at these parishes in Germany: Hoxter 1 Luchtringen (1973–1974); Clemenskirche, Hannover (1975); Grosskollnbach/Isar (1976)
   6. He was also former prefect and acting pastor of the Guadalupe Minor Seminary (1977–1978). For three years he was priest-in-charge of the Fil-Mission (Mission Society of the Philippines) Seminary in Tagaytay (1978–1981) where he was also professor of Introduction to the Scriptures. He served as rector of San Carlos Seminary in Makati City (1982–1986) and professor of Spirituality at the Summer Institute (1983–1985). He was parish priest and chaplain at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City (1986–1988) and then became parish priest of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Quezon City.
   7. He served as rector of the Colegio Filipino in Rome (1990–1994) and became chaplain of Filipinos in that country for two years (1990–1992).
   8. Pope John Paul II appointed him as Auxiliary Bishop of Manila on Nov. 27, 1993 and was ordained at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. He was appointed Military Ordinary of the Military Ordinariate of the Philippines on Aug. 25, 1995 and served until 2005.
   9. From 1995, he has been chairman of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines' Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerant Peoples (ECMI). Since 1988 he has been spiritual director of the National Service Committee of the National Charismatic Renewal Movement.