Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma announced the development on “Sugbuswak,” the Archdiocese’s term for the creation of the new dioceses, in a short video clip posted on RCAC’s Facebook page on Sunday, July 9, 2023.
“Ang atong proposal bahin sa ‘Sugbuswak’ unanimously approved sa tanang mga obispo. Nalipay sila ning atong pangandoy,” he said.
(Our proposal regarding “Sugbuswak” was unanimously approved by all the bishops. They are pleased with our vision.)
The Diocese of Kalibo, Aklan is hosting the CBCP plenary assembly, which started on Saturday, July 8, and will end on Monday, July 10. During the said event,
Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of the Diocese of Kalookan was reelected to head the CBCP.
CBCP’s approval is just one of the requirements for Sugbuswak to prosper. After the CBCP’s approval, the Sugbuswak proposal will be forwarded to Rome for further approval.
“When we present it to Rome, it should be in a way that the many aspects of the division should already be well-prepared,” Palma said in an interview on Feb. 24, adding that the archdiocese must have an “adequate explanation” and “reason for the division.”
Palma expressed his hopes to SunStar Cebu last June 24 that the Vatican would grant approval for “Sugbuswak,” or the proposal to divide the largest archdiocese in the Philippines for better pastoral care.
By January, a detailed version of the archdiocese’s division plan is expected to be sent to the Vatican for examination and approval by the Pope.
The plan is to divide the archdiocese into three: the archdiocese as the mother church, one diocese in northern Cebu and one diocese in southern Cebu.
Palma said in an interview last July that Carcar City is being considered as the center of the planned diocese in the south.
The cities of Danao and Bogo are being considered as the center of the planned diocese in the north, he said.
Palma said there is a need to split the archdiocese because some of the faithful have to travel long distances to reach their respective parishes.
The Sugbuswak plan, he said, aims “to serve more people, especially the far-flung areas and islands in the province.”
Sugbuswak is a combination of several words: Sugbu, the native name of Cebu; “sugwak,” meaning to spurt, and “buswak,” meaning to bloom. / AML, KAL