The Territorial Prelature of Batanes (in la, Praelatura Territorialis Batanensis) is a

Latin rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church '' sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once ...

pre-diocesan, non-missionary jurisdiction of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. It is a suffragan in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of seve ...

of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tuguegarao The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tuguegarao is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. Tuguegarao is a river delta city that became center of the archdiocese in the Province of Cagayan, on the island of ...

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

island in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. The Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral is the episcopal seat of the territorial prelate, in Basco, Batanes. The current bishop-prelate is Most Rev. Danilo B. Ulep, D.D.

Statistics and territory

As per 2014, it pastorally served 16,647 Catholics (94.5% of 17,609 total) on 784 km² in 6 parishes and 1 mission with 9 priests (diocesan), 4 lay religious (4 sisters), 2 seminarians. The prelature includes Batanes province and the municipality of Calayan in Cagayan Province. The territory is divided into six parishes. In 2004 there were 15,505 baptized about 16,476 inhabitants.

History

* It was erected on 30 November 1950 as

Territorial Prelature A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

of Batanes Islands and Babuyan / Batanen(sis) et Babuyanen(sis) (Latin), on territory split off from the Metropolitan

Archdiocese of Manila In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. * On 29 June 1951 it became part of the ecclesiastical province of

Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia The Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. It covers the province of Ilocos Sur, on the island of Luzon. The see of the archdiocese is the city of Vigan.Archdiocese of Tuguegarao The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tuguegarao is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. Tuguegarao is a river delta city that became center of the archdiocese in the Province of Cagayan, on the island of ...

, its mother see. * On 6 February 2002 renamed Territorial Prelature of Batanes / Batanen(sis) (Latin adjective).

Coat of arms

The silver crescent symbolizes the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...

, the titular of the principal church in the prelature. The

North Star Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude tha ...

together with the constellation of the

Ursa major Ursa Major (; also known as the Great Bear) is a constellation in the northern sky, whose associated mythology likely dates back into prehistory. Its Latin name means "greater (or larger) bear," referring to and contrasting it with nearby Ursa ...

denotes that the prelature covers the northern-most part of the Philippines. Cattle is the most important export product of Batanes and

Babuyan Islands The Babuyan Islands ( ), also known as the Babuyan Group of Islands, is an archipelago in the Philippines, located in the Luzon Strait north of the main island of Luzon and south of Taiwan via Bashi Channel to Luzon Strait. The archipelago cons ...

hence the bull on pasture. The agitated sea symbolizes the dangerous waters between these islands.

Episcopal ordinaries

(all Roman Rite) ;''Prelates of Batanes and the Babuyan Islands'' ;''Prelates of Batanes''

References

Sources and external links