Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Palo
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Archdiocese of Palo Archidioecesis Palensis Arkidiyosesis han Palo Arkidiyosesis sa Palo |
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| Location | |
| Country | Philippines |
| Territory | Eastern Visayas except Southern Leyte |
| Ecclesiastical province | Leyte |
| Metropolitan | Palo, Leyte |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 4,620 km2 (1,780 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2004) 1,572,472 1,257,977 (80%) |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | 28 November 1937 (Diocese) 14 February 1982 (Archdiocese) |
| Cathedral | Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lord's Transfiguration in Palo, Leyte |
| Patron saint | Transfiguration of Our Lord |
| Secular priests | 158 priests |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | John Forrosuelo Du |
| Vicar General | Rex C. Ramirez, SLL |
| Emeritus Bishops | Pedro R. Dean Archbishop Emeritus (1985-2006) |
| Map | |
 Jurisdiction of the metropolitan see within the Philippines. |
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| Website | |
| Website of the Archdiocese | |
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Palo is a large administrative diocese of the Catholic Church in the town of Palo in Leyte province, Philippines. It was formed as a diocese on the 28th of November, 1937, and became an archdiocese in 1982, with Calbayog, Borongan, Catarman and Naval Diocese serving as suffragan to it. The archdiocese encompasses 4,620 km2 (1,780 sq mi) and an overwhelmingly Catholic population of 1,165,565. The archdiocese has two districts, Eastern and Western, which are divided among the languages Waray and Cebuano. The Eastern District has seven vicariates of 34 parishes. 13 parishes are in the Western District, with one chaplaincy. The archdiocese contains two seminaries. The elder of these is the Sacred Heart Seminary, which was founded in 1944. Founded in 1988, the St. John Evangelist School of Theology serves additional dioceses. Jose S. Palma, a priest from the Archdiocese of Jaro was the Archbishop of Palo until he was appointed as Archbishop of Cebu
The Archdiocese of Palo was created as a Diocese on November 28, 1937 and elevated to as Archdiocese November 15, 1982 with four neighboring dioceses of the Metropolitan, to include Borongan, Calbayog, Catarman and Naval.
The province of Leyte to which the Archdiocese of Palo belongs was the scene of the first Mass in the Philippines celebrated by Fr. Pedro de Valderrama on March 31, 1521, Easter Sunday. The exact spot is the small island Limasawa on the southernmost tip of Leyte Island. However, formal work of evangelization did not start until 74 years later when the Jesuits arrived in Kangara or Carigara, led by Fr. Pedro Chirino, S.J. with four priests and one brother companion on 16 July 1595. At that time there were settlements connected with each other by dirt roads. The missionaries had to work for the formation of the towns since the people were spread out over the lowlands and into the mountains. The population of about 70,000 came under the general control of local officials called encomenderos assigned to collect the tribute from the people. A constant difficulty the missionaries encountered in their efforts of spreading the Faith was the greediness of the tribute collectors and the carrying out of the Moro raids. These raids usually came during the monsoon season. The object of the raids was to capture slaves, to inflict physical damage to the towns and countryside, and to carry away any crop or booty. The captured slaves were to be later sold in Malaya, Macassar, or Java. The first major raid on record was made on October 28, 1603, composed of seventy ships and two thousand men. Palo and Dulag were burned, and captives were taken. A raid in 1613 resulted in the capture of four hundred people in Dulag alone. Another raid in 1634 brought heavy damage to Cabalian, Sogod, Baybay, and Ormoc. Members of the clergy were at times among the captives, some of whom were killed. The first missions were Carigara (1595), Dulag (1595), Palo (1596), Alangalang (1597), and Ormoc (1597). Early structures were made of light materials, but eventually they were replaced by stone structures, e.g. Tanauan (1714) and Abuyog (1718). Baptisms were preceded by a period of training in the Christian way of life. This period of training would often last for several months. In the Palo missions a small catechetical text was printed in the Visayan by Fr. Cristobal Himenes, as an aid in the preparation of candidates for baptism. By 1600 there were an estimated 6,000 people in the Palo Community, 1,000 of whom had been baptized. The same ratio was found in the twenty-five villages where the missionaries had chapels; there were 4,946 Christians in the total population of 24,500. By 1768 most residents of Leyte had been baptized. There were twenty established parishes in that year. Four of the parishes were in the North: Carigara, Barugo, Alangalang, Jaro. Eight of the parishes were in the west and south: Palompon, Ormoc, Baybay, Hilongos, Maasin, Sogod, Cabalian, and Hinunangan. Another eight parishes were in the east: Palo, Tanauan, Dulag, Abuyog, Dagami, Burauen, and, across the gulf in Samar Island), Basey and Balangiga. A hospital and boarding school were built in Dulag, while Carigara conducted a day school.
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