Roman Catholic Diocese of Ipil
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Diocese of Ipil Dioecesis Ipilensis Diocesis de Ipil (Chavacano) Diyosesis sa Ipil (Cebuano) |
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| Location | |
| Country | Philippines |
| Ecclesiastical province | Zamboanga |
| Metropolitan | Zamboanga |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 4,297 km2 (1,659 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2004) 598,768 262,989 (42.6%) |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Cathedral | Cathedral of St. Joseph the Worker in Ipil |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Bishop | Julius Sullan Tonel |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | Romulo T. Dela Cruz |
| Emeritus Bishops | Federico O. Escaler Prelate Emeritus (1980-1997) |
The Diocese of Ipil (Latin: Dioecesis Ipilen(sis)) is a Roman Catholic Diocese located in the municipality of Ipil in the Ecclesiastical province of Zamboanga in the Philippines. It is an ecclesiastical territory in the province of Zamboanga Sibugay. It occupies an area of 4,850 square kilometers extending from the boundary of Zamboanga del Norte on the north to Olutanga Island on the south, from the town of Tungawan on the west to the town Margosatubig on the east boundaries set by Pope John Paul II himself when he decreed the separation of this ecclesiastical territory from the Archdiocese of Zamboanga on December 24, 1979.
The area described above comprises the Province of Zamboanga Sibugay. The terrain is generally hilly bounded by mountains on the north and the Sibuyan Bay on the south. There are no large cities in the area; it is predominantly rural, predominantly agricultural, with rice, corn, rubber and coconut as the major crops. Of these only rubber is produced commercially. The overall economic situation of the area is very poor. Roads and facilities are inadequate.
The population covered by the prelature is 581,316 of which 62 per cent are Catholics. A majority of the population are migrants from the Central Visayas area, which accounts for the predominance of the Cebuano dialect, followed by Ilonggo. These are the dialects used in the Catholic liturgy.
On December 24, 1979, the Territorial Prelature of Ipil was established from the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Zamboanga
The Prelature of Ipil is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Zamboanga with whom it shares much of its history of evangelization. The faith was first brought to the Zamboanga Peninsula by the Jesuit Missionaries as early as 1635. The Jesuit father took charge for many years over what was then considered mission territory. Two Jesuit priests Father Francisco Paliola and Father Alejandro Lopez lost their lives as martyrs in their efforts to win over the Muslim through diplomacy.
From 1910 the whole Island of Mindanao fell under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Zamboanga. In 1933, other ecclesiastical territories were established in Mindanao, separating themselves from Zamboanga, the last of which was the Prelature of Ipil in 1979.
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