Diocese of Legazpi

Address - The Chancery, Saint Gregory the Great Cathedral Compound Albay District, P.O. Box 182, Legazpi City 4500
Contact Number  - (052) 481-2178
Email - legazpichancery@yahoo.com
Website - legazpidiocese.com

QUICK FACTS
Diocese Name - Diocese of Legazpi (a.k.a "Albay Diocese")
Territory - Albay
Cathedral - Saint Gregory the Great Cathedral Parish - Legazpi City, Albay
Bishop - Most. Rev. Joel Zamudio Baylon D.D.
Former Bishops - Most Rev. Lucilo Quiambao D.D., Most Rev. Nestor Celestial Cariño D.D., Most Rev. José C. Sorra D.D., Most. Rev. Concordio Maria Sarte D.D., Most. Rev. Teotimo C. Pacis D.D., Most. Rev. Flaviano Ariola D.D.
Date Established - June 29, 1951
Patron Saint - Saint Gregory the Great
No. of Parishes - 49

LIST OF PARISHES
  1. Our Lady of Salvation Parish - Tiwi, Albay
  2. Saint Lawrence the Deacon Parish - Tiwi, Albay
  3. Saints Joachim and Anne Parish - Malinao, Albay
  4. Saint Nicholas of Tolentino Parish - Malinao, Albay
  5. Saint John the Baptist Parish - Tabaco City, Albay
  6. Our Lady of Lourdes Parish - Tabaco City, Albay
  7. Holy Family Parish, Panal - Tabaco City, Albay
  8. Saint Vincent Ferrer Parish - Tabaco City, Albay
  9. Saint Anthony of Padua Parish - Tabaco City, Albay
  10. Saint Michael the Archangel Parish - Tabaco City, Albay
  11. Saint Rose of Lima Parish - Bacacay, Albay
  12. Saint John Paul II Quasi-Parish - Bacacay, Albay
  13. Saint John Nepomucene Parish - Bacacay, Albay
  14. Sacred Heart Parish - Bacacay, Albay
  15. Saint Joseph the Worker Parish - Rapu-Rapu, Albay
  16. Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish - Malilipot, Albay
  17. Saint Dominic of Guzman Parish - Santo Domingo, Albay
  18. Saint Vincent Ferrer Parish - Legazpi City, Albay
  19. Saint Padre Pio Parish - Legazpi City, Albay
  20. Saint Raphael the Archangel Parish - Legazpi City, Albay
  21. Saint Jude Thaddeus Parish - Legazpi City, Albay
  22. Our Lady of Fatima Parish - Legazpi City, Albay
  23. Santa Florentina Parish - Rapu-Rapu, Albay
  24. San Ramon Nonato Parish - Daraga, Albay
  25. Saint Raphael the Archangel Parish - Manito, Albay
  26. Saint Joseph the Worker Parish - Legazpi City, Albay
  27. Saint Roche Parish - Legazpi City, Albay
  28. Saint Gregory the Great Cathedral Parish - Legazpi City, Albay
  29. Our Lady of the Gate Parish - Daraga, Albay
  30. Our Lady of Salvation Parish - Daraga, Albay
  31. Our Lady of the Assumption Parish - Daraga, Albay
  32. Saint John the Baptist Parish - Camalig, Albay
  33. Saint Lawrence the Martyr Quasi-Parish - Camalig, Albay
  34. Our Lady of the Assumption Parish - Guinobatan, Albay
  35. Saint John the Baptist Parish - Jovellar, Albay
  36. Saint Vincent Ferrer Parish - Guinobatan, Albay
  37. Saint Stephen the Protomartyr Parish - Ligao City, Albay
  38. Saint John XXIII Quasi-Parish - Ligao City, Albay
  39. Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish - Ligao City, Albay
  40. Our Lady of Salvation Parish - Pio Duran, Albay
  41. Saint Michael the Archangel Parish - Oas, Albay
  42. Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish - Oas, Albay
  43. Saints Peter and Paul Parish - Polangui, Albay
  44. Saint Anthony of Padua Parish - Polangui, Albay
  45. Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish - Polangui, Albay
  46. Saint Dominic of Guzman Parish - Polangui, Albay
  47. Saint James the Greater Parish - Libon, Albay
  48. Saint Raphael the Archangel Parish - Libon, Albay
  49. Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish - Oas, Albay
DIOCESAN LOGO (COAT OF ARMS)
Diocese of Legazpi
(photo from wikipedia.org)

No record available.

HISTORY
The man chosen by God to be the first diocesan Pastor of Legazpi was Mons. Flaviano B. Ariola, D.D. Born right in Albay on 4 August 1905, ordained Priest on 31 March 1931, he spent his first priestly years in the diocese of Bacolod beside a revered and loved pastor, the late Mons. Casimiro Lladoc. The excited speculation ignited by the announcement of the creation of the diocese of Legazpi as to the identity of the first bishop was mostly way off the mark because most of the speculation targeted those in open circulation within the Bicol Region. But when Mons. Ariola’s name was announced on May 15, 1952 as the first Bishop of Legazpi, the news was received with sincere joy. In fact, a considerable number of priests and laymen from the diocese of Legazpi attended Mons. Ariola’s Episcopal ordination in Bacolod on August 6, 1952. A similarly considerable number of people from Bacolod came to Legazpi for Mons. Ariola’s solemn Installation on October 6, 1952.

Bishop Ariola kept faith with his Episcopal motto: “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4, 7) He was the father, if not an elder brother to every priest as his Intimate collaborator in the ordained ministry. With unfeigned simplicity and without false pretenses he would repeat that God had deigned to choose him pastor regardless of his personal worth (“nakadama man minsan siring”). What he was saying of himself, he had it understood for all we were all invited, “Come and follow me, I will make you fishers of men”, “I chose you to go forth and bear fruit” and to be able to do this we need to “stir into flame” the grace of ordination. Bishop Ariola studied carefully each priest’s strong and weak sides, was forthright and frank in dealing with the virtues and faults of his brothers and extremely careful in giving each his due. always with charity. This character study and observation on the capabilities of each one would often take some time because he wanted to be fair with everybody and wanted each one to be where he could be at his best. In fact, for more than a year, the diocese had only a chancellor/oeconomus. It was only after a year and a half that the Vicar General and other Curia members were appointed.

As early as April, 27, 1953, a big portion of the convento of the Cathedral Parish was rehabilitated to house temporarily the Minor Seminary of the diocese under the patronage of St. Gregory the Great which opened the following June. The Very Rev. Fr. Jose Belleza was chosen first rector of this seminary ably aided by a selected group of young talented priests. In the meantime, the construction of the permanent seminary in Tabaco was started and after impassioned appeals to the whole diocese for financial support, the Minor Seminary of St. Gregory the Great was inaugurated for the school year 1961.

Minor Seminaries had always been a blessing to the Church. In Itself it is a powerful promoter of vocations. Its simple presence seems to proclaim incessantly: “Come and see; come and follow me”. It also has that symbolic value of forging a diocesan unity among the graduates of that seminary. To achieve this added role of the minor (and perhaps of the college) seminary, a guiding inspirational spirit is needed. A diocese needs this!

It is moreover worth remembering that while a small number of those who enroll In the minor seminary persevere up to ordination, those who are not actually chosen receive a solid Christian formation for their Christian life in society and, more often than not, one their children will eventually be chosen! (source : legazpidiocese.com)

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