The blessed, best-led Archdiocese of Cebu

Leading the biggest archdiocese in the whole Philippines is not an easy task. Archbishop Jose Serofia Palma, DD, is carrying a very heavy burden of not just being the overall religious leader of Cebu's metropolitan archbishopric but also overseeing the four big suffragan dioceses of Dumaguete, Maasin, Tagbilaran, and Talibon.

Archbishop Palma covers no less than a territorial area of 5,088 square kilometers and a population of 5,310,651 people of which no less than 4,621,792 or 87% are Roman Catholics. He leads the priests who are pastors of 164 parishes, two mission stations, five non-parochial shrines, two national shrines, and one minor basilica. Established as a diocese on August 14, 1595 and was elevated into an archdiocese on April 28, 1934. As overall leader of this blessed archdiocese, Archbishop Palma has under his supervision bishops Julito Cortes of Dumaguete, Precioso Cantillas of Maasin, Alberto Uy of Tagbilaran, and Daniel Parcon of Talibon.

The first archbishop of Cebu was Archbishop Gabriel M. Reyes who stayed in office from April 28, 1934 to August 25, 1949 or for a period of 15 years and 119 days. He was succeeded by Cardinal Julio R. Rosales who stayed the longest of them all, for no less than 32 years and 250 days from December 17, 1949 to August 24, 1982. His successor Cardinal Ricardo R. Vidal served also for a long time, 28 years and 52 days from August 24, 1982 to October 15, 2010. The incumbent, Archbishop Jose S. Palma served this great archdiocese from October 15, 2010 and therefore, has been with us for no less than 13 years already. To be able to withstand all the workload and the pressure of leadership is by itself alone a mark of fortitude, stamina, and perseverance.

The archbishop was born on March 19, 1950, incidentally, and on a personal note, the same day, the same month, and the same year I was also born. But he became a servant of God and I became a sinner, an ordinary servant in the vineyard of the Lord. He was born in Iloilo and is a distant blood relative of the iconic late senator Miriam Palma Defensor Santiago. He entered the seminary and studied Philosophy at the St. Vincent Seminary and Theology at the St. Joseph Regional Seminary. He obtained his licentiate in Sacred Theology from the pontifical and royal University of Santo Tomas. He was ordained priest on August 21, 1976. He then served in various commissions in the archdiocese of Iloilo then Pope John Paul II named him Titular Bishop of Vasari Didi and Auxiliary Bishop of Cebu.

On the eve of his birthday on March 18, 2006, Pope Paul XVI appointed him archbishop of Palo, Leyte, succeeding the eminent Pedro R. Dean. On October 15, 2010, Archbishop Palma was appointed to succeed Cardinal Ricardo Vidal. On December 1, 2009, he was elected vice president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. On July 11, 2011, he was elected president of that august body composed of all the Catholic bishops in the whole country. In 2018, Archbishop Palma joined the OP or Order of Preachers. On November 11, 2019, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Palma as a member of the Pontifical Council on Culture.

The archdiocese of Cebu, by its sheer size, and the complexity of its political and socio-cultural realities, not to forget the difficult economic and financial conditions of many of its people, requires a strong man with proven wisdom and great intellect. The Lord God, using the Pope as his instrument, has chosen Archbishop Palma as pastor, leader, and defender of his church under many challenging and difficult conditions. After having led this great archdiocese for 13 sterling years, we pray to God that Archbishop Palma stays with us for another 13 years or even longer. He is a man of great character, conscientiousness, and compassion. The eminent and noble archdiocese of Cebu has found a worthy shepherd of his flock.