Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Capiz

The Archdiocese of Capiz is a Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese the Catholic Church in the Philippines. The archdiocese covers the entire province of Capiz on the island of Panay in the Visayas, central Philippines, and has its see in Roxas City. As an ecclesiastical province, it also encompasses the suffragan sees of Kalibo, which oversees the province of Aklan, and Romblon, which oversees the province of the same name. Its current archbishop is Victor Barnuevo Bendico, who was installed on May 3, 2023.

History

The tumultuous situation that the Philippine Catholic church had experienced in the aftermath of the Philippine Revolution and the American occupation prompted the Holy See to issue the Apostolic Constitution Quae Mari Sinico in 1902. This document, apart from encouraging the gradual transition of ecclesiastical leadership to the Filipino secular clergy, also proposed the formation of new dioceses in Lipa, Zamboanga, Tuguegarao, and Capiz. However, as Quae Mari Sinico does not have a consistorial decree on the proposed new dioceses, they remained in the jurisdiction of their mother dioceses; in the case of Capiz, it remained under the Archdiocese of Jaro.

Decades after the Quae Mari Sinico, the Diocese of Capiz was eventually formed on 27 January 1951 by virtue of the Apostolic Constitution Ex supremi apostolatus. The new diocese was carved from the territory of the Archdiocese of Jaro, and covered the whole civil provinces of Capiz (which included Aklan until 1956) and Romblon.

Two dioceses were eventually created from its territory: the Diocese of Romblon (19 December 1974) and the Diocese of Kalibo (17 January 1976).

On 17 January 1976, Pope Paul VI elevated the bishopric to the rank of an archdiocese through his Papal Bull Nimium Patens which turned it into an ecclesiastical province. The dioceses of Romblon and Kalibo became its suffragans.

The archdiocese retained the name Capiz since its establishment predates the renaming of the municipality where it sits into Roxas City (11 April 1951).

Coat of arms

The silver crescent on the blue background symbolizes the Immaculate Conception, titular of the cathedral. The twins (kapid in Visayan) suggest the name of the territory of the diocese, the province of Capiz. The gold background indicates the unique honor accruing to the province from the fact that the highest men in Church and State at the time when the Philippines became a republic were both from Capiz: the Gabriel M. Reyes then-Archbishop of Manila and Manuel Roxas, the first President of the Third Philippine Republic. Hence, the twin at the dexter side holds a patriarchal cross, insignia of an archbishop, while the one at the sinister side holds a sheathed ancient ceremonial sword of command.

Suffragan dioceses

• Diocese of Romblon
• Diocese of Kalibo

List of Ordinaries

Bishops

Name			Period in Office		Coat of Arms
			From	Until
1.	File:Bishop Manuel Yap.jpg	Manuel Porcia Yap†	February 13, 1951	March 5, 1952 (Appointment; Bishop of Bacolod)	File:Coat of arms of Manuel Porcia Yap as Bishop of Capiz.svg
2.		Antonio Floro Frondosa†	March 5, 1952	January 17, 1976 (Appointment; Archbishop)	File:Coat of arms of Antonio Floro Frondosa as Bishop of Capiz.svg

Archbishops

Name			Period in Office		Coat of Arms
			From	Until
1.		Antonio Floro Frondosa†	January 17, 1976 (Appointment; former Bishop)	June 18, 1986 (Retirement)	File:Coat of arms of Antonio Floro Frondosa as Archbishop of Capiz.svg
2.	File:Bishop Onesimo Gordoncillo.jpg	Onesimo Cadiz Gordoncillo†	June 18, 1986 (Appointment; former Bishop of Tagbilaran)	November 9, 2011	File:Coat of Arms of Onesimo Cadiz Gordoncillo.svg
3.	File:Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula 2025-06-29.jpg	Jose Fuerte Advincula, O.P.	November 9, 2011 (Appointment; former Bishop of San Carlos)	June 24, 2021 (Appointment; Archbishop of Manila)	File:Coat of arms of Jose Fuerte Advincula.svg
4.		Victor Barnuevo Bendico	May 3, 2023 (Appointment; former Bishop of Baguio)	Incumbent	File:Coat of arms of Victor Barnuevo Bendico (Capiz).svg

Auxiliary Bishops

Name			Period in Office		Coat of Arms
			From	Until
1.	File:Bishop Vicente Navarra.jpg	Vicente Macanan Navarra	April 23, 1979	November 21, 1987 (Appointment; Bishop of Kabankalan)

Affiliated bishops

• Jaime Sin, first rector of St. Pius X Seminary (1957–1967); Archbishop of Jaro (1972–1974); Archbishop of Manila (1974–2003)
• Warlito I. Cajandig, appointed Apostolic Vicar of Calapan in 1989
• Vicente Navarra, first Bishop of Kabankalan (1987–2001); Bishop of Bacolod (2001–2016)
• Victor B. Bendico, appointed Bishop of Baguio in 2017 to 2023; Later he was appointed Archbishop of Capiz in 2023
• Jose Advincula, Bishop of San Carlos (2001–2011); Archbishop of Capiz (2011–2021); appointed Archbishop of Manila in 2021

Administered Schools

• St. Pius X Seminary (Roxas City)
• Sancta Maria, Mater et Regina, Seminarium (Roxas City)
• Colegio De La Purisima Concepcion

See also

• Christianity in the Philippines
• List of Catholic dioceses in the Philippines
• Panay Church

References

• Catholic Hierarchy
• CBCP