The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Fernando (; ; ; Kapampangan: Arkidiosesis ning San Fernando) is the archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Pampanga, Philippines which has territorial jurisdiction over the whole province of Pampanga and Angeles City. The archdiocese is also the metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province of the same name, which also include three dioceses of its surrounding provinces of Bataan (Diocese of Balanga), Zambales (Diocese of Iba), and Tarlac (Diocese of Tarlac). The cathedral church and seat of the archdiocese is the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Fernando (Pampanga). The Virgin Mary, under the title Virgen de los Remedios, is the principal patroness. Its suffragan dioceses of Balanga, Iba, and Tarlac, along with the dioceses of San Jose and Cabanatuan in Nueva Ecija (both suffragans of Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan), and Malolos in Bulacan (suffragan of the Archdiocese of Manila), form the group of dioceses in Central Luzon. Florentino G. Lavarias, D.D., is the current archbishop of the archdiocese since October 27, 2014, succeeding Paciano B. Aniceto, D.D. who resigned three months earlier on July 25, 2014. History From diocese to archdiocese The diocese of San Fernando, Pampanga was created on December 11, 1948, through the Apostolic Constitution Probe Noscitur; it comprised the provinces of Pampanga, Bataan, Zambales, parts of Tarlac, and Nueva Ecija. It was initially a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Manila. The first bishop was César María Guerrero, DD, a native of Manila; he received his appointment from the Vatican on May 29, 1949, and was installed on September 8 of the same year. The parish of Our Lady of the Assumption, in the provincial capital town of San Fernando, was selected as the seat of the new diocese; the parish church was thus elevated into a cathedral and was renamed Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption. Bishop Guerrero established the Mater Boni Consilii (now Mother of Good Counsel) Seminary in 1950 (it was originally in Guagua, then Apalit, before being relocated to its present site in San Fernando): the Cruzada de Penitencia y Caridad (or devotion to the Virgen delos Remedios) in 1952, which continues to this day; and Carmelite Monastery in Angeles in 1956, where on March 14, 1957, he retired due to poor health. He died on March 27, 1961, and was buried beside the monastery chapel, according to his wishes. Eventually the diocese was dismembered when