| Jurisdiction: | Archdiocese |
| Border: | Catholic |
| Capiz | |
| Latin: | Archidioecesis Capicensis |
| Local: | |
| Coat: | Archdiocese_of_Capiz_coat_of_arms_Philippine_Studies_version.svg |
| Coat Size: | 150px |
| Country: |  Philippines |
| Territory: | Capiz |
| Province: | Capiz |
| Metropolitan: | Capiz |
| Area Km2: | 2,663 |
| Population: | 908,000[1] |
| Population As Of: | 2021 |
| Catholics: | 823,825[2] |
| Catholics Percent: | 90.7[3] |
| Parishes: | 37 |
| Established: | January 27, 1951 (Diocese) January 17, 1976 (Archdiocese) |
| Cathedral: | Immaculate Conception Metropolitan Cathedral |
| Patron: | Immaculate Conception |
| Patron Title: | Patroness |
| Priests: | 113 |
| Major Archbishop: | Victor Barnuevo Bendico |
| Bishop Title: | Archbishop |
| Metro Archbishop: | Victor Barnuevo Bendico |
| Suffragans: | Jose Corazon Tala-oc (Kalibo) Narciso Abellana (Romblon) |
| Vicar General: | Rufino Regie Pamposa |
| Archdeacon: | for one--> |
| Emeritus Bishops: | Jose Advincula (2011–2021) |
The Archdiocese of Capiz is a Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese the Catholic Church in the Philippines. The archdiocese covers the entire province of Capiz on the island of Panay in the Visayas, central Philippines, and has its see in Roxas City. As an ecclesiastical province, it also encompasses the suffragan sees of Kalibo, which oversees the province of Aklan, and Romblon, which oversees the province of the same name. Its current archbishop is Victor Barnuevo Bendico, who was installed on May 3, 2023.[4]
The tumultuous situation that the Philippine Catholic church had experienced in the aftermath of the Philippine Revolution and the American occupation prompted the Holy See to issue the Apostolic Constitution Quae Mari Sinico in 1902. This document, apart from encouraging the gradual transition of ecclesiastical leadership to the Filipino secular clergy, also proposed the formation of new dioceses in Lipa, Zamboanga, Tuguegarao, and Capiz.[5] However, as Quae Mari Sinico does not have a consistorial decree on the proposed new dioceses, they remained in the jurisdiction of their mother dioceses; in the case of Capiz, it remained under the Archdiocese of Jaro.[6]
Decades after the Quae Mari Sinico, the Diocese of Capiz was eventually formed on 27 January 1951 by virtue of the Apostolic Constitution Ex supremi apostolatus. The new diocese was carved from the territory of the Archdiocese of Jaro, and covered the whole civil provinces of Capiz (which included Aklan until 1956) and Romblon.[7]
Two dioceses were eventually created from its territory: the Diocese of Romblon (19 December 1974) and the Diocese of Kalibo (17 January 1976).[8] [9]
On 17 January 1976, Pope Paul VI elevated the bishopric to the rank of an archdiocese through his Papal Bull Nimium Patens which turned it into an ecclesiastical province. The dioceses of Romblon and Kalibo became its suffragans.[10]
The archdiocese retained the name Capiz since its establishment predates the renaming of the municipality where it sits into Roxas City (11 April 1951).
The silver crescent on the blue background symbolizes the Immaculate Conception, titular of the cathedral. The twins (kapid in Visayan) suggest the name of the territory of the diocese, the province of Capiz. The gold background indicates the unique honor accruing to the province from the fact that the highest men in Church and State at the time when the Philippines became a republic were both from Capiz: the Gabriel M. Reyes then-Archbishop of Manila and Manuel Roxas, the first President of the Third Philippine Republic. Hence, the twin at the dexter side holds a patriarchal cross, insignia of an archbishop, while the one at the sinister side holds a sheathed ancient ceremonial sword of command.[11]
| Name | Period in Office | Coat of Arms | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | Until | |||||
| 1. | Manuel Porcia Yap† | February 13, 1951 | March 5, 1952(Appointment;Bishop of Bacolod) | |||
| 2. | Antonio Floro Frondosa† | March 5, 1952 | January 17, 1976(Appointment;Archbishop) | |||
| Name | Period in Office | Coat of Arms | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | Until | |||||
| 1. | Antonio Floro Frondosa† | January 17, 1976(Appointment;former Bishop) | June 18, 1986(Retirement) | |||
| 2. | Onesimo Cadiz Gordoncillo† | June 18, 1986(Appointment;former Bishopof Tagbilaran) | November 9, 2011 | |||
| 3. | Jose Fuerte Advincula | November 9, 2011(Appointment;former Bishopof San Carlos) | June 24, 2021(Appointment;Archbishopof Manila) | |||
| 4. | Victor Barnuevo Bendico | May 3, 2023(Appointment;former Bishopof Baguio) | incumbent | |||