The Archdiocese of Cáceres is an

archdiocese 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

."Archdiocese of Cáceres (Nueva Cáceres)"
'' Catholic-Hierarchy.org''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016"Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cáceres"
''GCatholic.org''. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016 It is a

Metropolitan See Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

that comprises the

Bicol Region Bicol, known formally as the Bicol Region or colloquially as Bicolandia ( bcl, Rehiyon kan Bikol; Rinconada Bikol: ''Rehiyon ka Bikol''; Waray Sorsogon, Masbateño: ''Rehiyon san Bikol''; tl, Rehiyon ng Bikol), is an administrative region o ...

, while directly overseeing the third, fourth, and fifth congressional districts of

Camarines Sur Camarines Sur ( bcl, Habagatan na Camarines; tl, Timog Camarines), officially the Province of Camarines Sur, is a province in the Philippines located in the Bicol Region on Luzon. Its capital is Pili and the province borders Camarines Norte and ...

, Naga City, Iriga City and the Municipality of Gainza. The archdiocese, having been founded in 1595 in Nueva Cáceres (now Naga City), is also considered one of the oldest dioceses in the Philippines with

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and ...

Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is in the Inner Plateau ('' Meseta central''), near the northern slopes o ...

and

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...

, and once had jurisdiction that stretched from

Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...

in the south and Isabela Province in the north. The seat of the archdiocese is currently located in Naga City, also known as the Queen City of Bicol. The archdiocese is also home to

Our Lady of Peñafrancia Our Lady of Peñafrancia ( es, Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia) is an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Philippines. It is one of the most venerated Marian images in Asia—the patroness of the Bicol Region, colloquially referred to as " ...

, the Patroness of Bicol, and is considered to be one of the largest Marian Pilgrimages in Asia.

History

The

Diocese 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 associat ...

of Cáceres was established as the suffragan of Manila on August 14, 1595. This was by virtue of the Papal Bull ''Super specula militantis ecclesiae'' issued by Clement VIII. The diocese extended over the provinces of Camarines and

Albay Albay,