"Sugbuswak": Prospects under Archbishop Uy

As we prepare for Christmas, we, Cebuanos, are blessed to have witnessed the smooth and amicable transition from the stewardship and pastoral leadership of Archbishop Jose Palma to the assumption by Archbishop Alberto Uy to the leadership of the Philippines' biggest archdiocese, and the largest in Asia in terms of the size of the Catholic flock being shepherded.

- Atty. Josephus B. Jimenez

The two have entirely different styles and perspectives. We neither have the right nor the competence to compare them. Many have dared to peremptorily declare that Palma is a traditional, conservative member of the Order of Preachers, while Uy is a more liberal, more progressive, and more down-to-earth diocesan pastoral shepherd to his flock. But that quick impression may commit the fallacy of overgeneralization.

Our research shows that since the creation of the Diocese of Cebu in 1595, it had already the biggest territorial jurisdiction covering the entire Visayas, Mindanao, even up to the islands of Marianas, the Carolines, and Palau. Today it remains the largest in Asia in terms of numbers of Catholic faithful covered as well the number of the members of the clergy. Under the ecclesiastical care of this archdiocese are the dioceses of Dumaguete, Tagbilaran, Talibon, and Maasin.