Archbishop of Lipa
Introduction The '''Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lipa''' is the head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lipa and the Metropolitan Bishop of the suffragan dioceses of Boac, Gumaca, Lucena and the Prelature of Infanta.Gilbert Garcera is the incumbent archbishop of Lipa since 2017.
History When the original Diocese of Lipa was created on April 10, 1910, the Bishop of Lipa had authority over a very vast region of a mostly homogenous Tagalog population. The Bishop used to oversee the Roman Catholics in the provinces of Batangas, Laguna, Tayabas (now Quezon, including the present-day Aurora), Marinduque and Mindoro.In 1936, the first territorial re-organisation of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lipa was promulgated with the creation of the Apostolic Prelature of Calapan, thus separating the province of Mindoro from the Archdiocese. This was followed by the creation of the Diocese of Lucena and the Prelature of Infanta in 1950.Another re-organisation happened in 1967 when the province of Laguna was raised to the rank of a diocese under the titular Diocese of San Pablo. The Diocese of Boac in Marinduque was created in 1977 and that of Gumaca in 1984.Both dioceses were part of the Diocese of Lucena before their establishment. In 1983 the new Apostolic Vicariate of San Jose in Occidental Mindoro was created.Today, the Archdiocese of Lipa is for the province of Batangas alone. But the population has multiplied many times over. The archdiocese is divided into 6 vicariates, each headed by a vicar forane. Except for the parishes in Vicariate IV, which are run by the Oblates of St. Joseph, all other parishes are run by the diocesan clergy. There are 49 parishes in all, served by 143 priests; 122 of them diocesan. There are 13 religious brothers, and 197 religious sisters. Catholic schools number 23, high school seminaries 2 and college seminaries 3.Two pastoral centers are being maintained.
Past and Present Prelates of Lipa No.IncumbentTenureNotesFromUntil1 Giuseppe Petrelli †Apr 12, 1910 Appointed Mar 30, 1915Appointed as the first Bishop of the Archdiocese of Lipa; later appointed as official to the Roman Curia2 Alfredo Florentin Verzosa † 06 Sept 1916Feb 25, 1951 Retired from office3 Alejandro Ayson Olalia †Dec 28, 1953Jan 2, 1973Elevated to the rank of Archbishop when Lipa became an Archdiocese on 20 June 1972; died in office4 Ricardo Jamin Vidal †Aug 22, 1973Apr 13, 1981Later appointed as the Archbishop of Cebu5 Mariano Garcés Gaviola †Apr 13, 1981Dec 30, 1992Retired from office6 Gaudencio Borbon RosalesDec 30, 1992Sept 15, 2003Later appointed as the Archbishop of Manila7 Ramon Cabrera ArguellesMay 14, 2004Feb 2, 2017Retired from office8 Gilbert Armea GarceraFeb 2, 2017Present Former Bishop of Daet; later appointed as the Fifth Archbishop of Lipa and Eighth Local Ordinary
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