Bishop of Nueva Segovia

Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia Archidioecesis Novae Segobiae Arkidiocesis ti Nueva Segovia
Arms of the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia
Location
Country	Philippines
Territory	Ilocos Sur
Ecclesiastical province	Nueva Segovia
Statistics
Area	2,570 km2 (990 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2007) 632,255 531,094 (2007 estimate) (84%)
Parishes	40
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	14 August 1595 (Diocese), 29 June 1951 (Archdiocese)
Cathedral	Saint Paul Metropolitan Cathedral
Patron saint	Saint Paul
Secular priests	74
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Metropolitan Archbishop	Marlo Mendoza Peralta
Auxiliary Bishops	David William Valencia Antonio
Emeritus Bishops	Edmundo Madarang Abaya Archbishop Emeritus of Nueva Segovia Ernesto Antolin Salgado Archbishop Emeritus of Nueva Segovia
Map
Jurisdiction of the metropolitan see within the Philippines.

Edmundo Madarang Abaya Archbishop Emeritus of Nueva Segovia

The Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. It covers the province of Ilocos Sur, on the island of Luzon. The see of the archdiocese is the city of Vigan.

The archdiocese was erected in 1595 in the city of Nueva Segovia (modern-day Lal-lo, Cagayan). The see was moved in 1758 to Vigan because of its relative distance, at the request of Bishop Juan de la Fuente Yepes, during the pontificate of Benedict XIV. It became an archdiocese in 1951.

The Archdiocese features the only Archbishop's Residence in the Philippines built during the Spanish Era. It is located just beside the Vigan Cathedral. The rear of the convent also had an access to nearby Govantes Dike, apparently a convenient exit point by sea, but it is no longer in use as the dike is no longer navigable. Both the Archbishop's Residence and the Cathedral itself remains to be one of the greatest contributions of the Order of Augustinian Recollects in the Philippines.

The Archdiocese also operates its own radio station, dzNS ("NS" meaning "New Sound" and "Nueva Segovia"). It is known for being a truly neutral radio station. It is a member of the Catholic Media Network.

The Archdiocese also operates a weekly newspaper, "Timek ti Amianan" (Ilocano: "Voice of the North").

The Diocese of Nueva Segovia was established together with Cebu and Nueva Caceres by Pope Clement VIII on August 14, 1595 by virtue of the Papal Bull, Super Specula Militantis Ecclesia under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception. Its first bishop was Fray Miguel de Benavides, OP. The ecclesiastical jurisdiction extended to the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra, La Union, Pangasinan, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Batanes, Mountain Province and five northern towns of Tarlac.

Although Vigan was the oldest town created by the Spaniards in the north, it was not made the seat of the Diocese which was created for Northern Luzon since the preferred locale, Nueva Segovia, a city at the mouth of the Ibanag River in Cagayan, was by then already a flourishing Spanish settlement while Vigan was then only a pueblo, a town. Eventually however, the city of Nueva Segovia was gradually effaced by the floods of Rio Grande, and the seat was provisionally transferred to the nearby town of Lal-lo, Cagayan. On September 7, 1758, the seat was permanently transferred to Vigan, retaining the old name, up to the present. The transfer was made at the request of Bishop Juan de la Fuente Yepes during the Pontificate of Benedict XIV. The year 2008 marks the 250th year since the transfer.