Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Palo - History

History

The province of Leyte to which the Archdiocese of Palo belongs was the scene of the first Mass in the Philippines celebrated by Fr. Pedro Valderama on March 31, 1521, Easter Sunday. The exact spot is the small island Limasawa on the southern most tip of Leyte Island. However, formal work of evangelization did not start until after seventy four years later when the Jesuits arrived in Kangara or Carigara, led by Fr. Pedro Chirino with four priests and one brother companion on the 16th of July, 1595. At that time there were settlements connected with each other by dirt roads. The missionaries had to work for the formation of the towns since the people were spread out over the lowlands and into the mountains. The population of about 70,000 came under the general control of local officials called encomenderos assigned to collect the tribute from the people. A constant difficulty the missionaries encountered in their efforts of spreading the Faith was the greediness of the tribute collectors and the carrying out of the Moro raids. These raids usually came during the monsoon season. The object of the raids was to capture slaves, to inflict physical damage to the towns and countryside, and to carry away any crop or booty. The captured slaves were to be later sold in Malaya, Macassar, or Java. The first major raid on record was made on October 28, 1603, composed of seventy ships and two thousand men. Palo and Dulag were burned, and captives were taken. A raid in 1613 resulted in the capture of four hundred people in Dulag alone. Another raid in 1634 brought heavy damage to Cabalian, Sogod, Baybay, and Ormoc. Members of the clergy were at times among the captives with death being at the times the punishment meted out to victims. The first missions were Carigara (1595), Dulag (1595), Palo (1596), Alangalang (1597), and Ormoc (1597). Early structures were light materials, but eventually they were replaced by stone structures, e.g. Tanauan (1714) and Abuyog (1718). The missionaries insisted that the structures be built by hired laborers, not by forced labor. Baptisms were preceded by a period of training in the Christian way of life. This period of training would often last for several months. In the Palo missions a small catechetical text was printed in the Visayan by Fr. Cristobal Himenes, as an aid in the preparation of candidates for baptism. By 1600 there were an estimated 6,000 people in the Palo Community with 1000 having been baptized. The same ratio was found in the twenty-five villages where the missionaries had chapels; a total of 4946 Christians were found among the over-all population of 24,500. Most of the residents of Leyte were baptized by 1768. There were twenty established parishes in that year. Four of the parishes were in the North: Carigara, Barugo, Alangalang, Jaro. Eight of the parishes were in the west and south: Palompon, Ormoc, Baybay, Hilongos, Maasin, Sogod, Cabalian, and Hinundayan. Another eight parishes were in the east: Palo, Tanauan, Dulag, Abuyog, Dagami, Burauen, Basey and Balangiga ( the last two being across the gulf in Samar Island). A hospital and boarding school were built in Dulag, while Carigara conducted a day school.

In 1796, the Jesuits were commanded to leave the Philippines. This was due to the unfortunate circumstances in Europe at that time. They were replaced in Leyte by the Augustinians. In the nineteenth century the Franciscan began working in the northeastern part of Leyte while the diocesan clergy were given the parishes in the west and the south. In 1896, the Franciscans, as Spanish citizens, had to leave the country and the diocesan clergy took over. Leyte had belonged to the Diocese of Cebu from 1595 until 1910 and then belonged to the Diocese of Calbayog from 1910 until 1937. On November 28, 1937 the Island of Leyte was created a Diocese of its own. It was canonically erected as a diocese with the seat in Palo. After thirty-one years, on March 23, 1968, Palo was divided into two dioceses, the other diocese based in Maasin with the Most Rev. Vicente T. Ataviado, D.D. as its first Ordinary. The diocese of Maasin comprises the whole province of Southern Leyte including six municipalities southwest of Leyte. In 1988, the diocese was again divided with the creation of the Diocese of Naval. This new diocese comprises the island north of Leyte called Biliran and four towns northeast of the province of Leyte facing the island of Biliran. The Diocese of Palo was elevated to an Archdiocese on November 15, 1982. It was canonically erected as an Archdiocese on February 14, 1983 As an Archdiocese. It comprises the whole island of Leyte except 10 municipalities. It has four suffragan dioceses: Calbayog, Borongan, Catarman, and Naval. Its titular patron is the Transfiguration of Our Lord.