Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Alberto “Abet” S. Uy as the new Archbishop of Cebu, the Catholic Church’s largest archdiocese in Asia, the Vatican announced Wednesday through its Daily Bulletin.

Uy, 58, currently serves as Bishop of Tagbilaran and will succeed Archbishop Jose S. Palma, whose resignation was accepted following his 75th birthday in March. 

Under Catholic Church law, bishops are required to submit their resignation upon reaching age 75.

The appointment marks the fifth archbishop to lead the Archdiocese of Cebu, which serves 4.7 million Catholics across the province of Cebu. 

The archdiocese is currently the largest in the Philippines and in Asia, having the most number of Catholics, according to Church statistics.

Born October 18, 1966, in Ubay, Bohol province, Uy obtained his philosophical studies at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Tagbilaran City and completed theological studies at St. John Mary Vianney Theological Seminary in Cagayan de Oro City, where he earned both a bachelor’s degree in theology and master’s degree in pastoral ministry.

He holds a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome (2002-2006) and a licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Loyola School of Theology in Quezon City.

Ordained as a priest for the Diocese of Tagbilaran in 1993, Uy served in various pastoral roles before being appointed Bishop of Tagbilaran by Pope Francis in October 2016. He began serving there on January 6, 2017, a day after his episcopal ordination.

Throughout his episcopal ministry, Uy has been recognized as an environmental advocate with particular concern for the poor and marginalized communities.

Archdiocese of Cebu

The Archdiocese of Cebu covers the whole civil province of Cebu in a land area of 5,088.4 square kilometers.

In the history of Christian evangelization, it prides itself as the Cradle of Christianity in the Philippines, with roots tracing back to Ferdinand Magellan’s arrival in Cebu in 1521. The church anchored in that year by the native Cebuanos’ profession of faith.

The archdiocese was elevated to metropolitan status on April 28, 1934, and serves as the ecclesiastical province for several suffragan dioceses in the central Philippines, including Dumaguete, Maasin, Tagbilaran, and Talibon.

The archdiocese currently has 626 priests (348 diocesan, 278 religious), 2,035 religious (1,010 brothers, 1,025 sisters), and 144 seminarians.

Plans to split the Archdiocese of Cebu into three smaller dioceses have hit delays, leaving the four million Catholics in the archdiocese uncertain about the future of their local Church, according to recent reports.

Diocese of Tagbilaran

The Diocese of Tagbilaran was established on November 8, 1941 and made a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Cebu. 

In 2024, Bohol had a total population of 1,400,902 of whom 873,401 are Catholics or some 77% of the total. The diocese is predominantly peopled by Boholanos who speak Boholano Cebuano.

Bohol remains one of the strongholds of the Catholic Church in the Philippines, being one of the 17 provinces with a Catholic population of at least 90%, according to the 2020 census.

Retiring Archbishop’s Legacy

Archbishop Palma, 75, served the Cebu archdiocese for 14 years after his appointment. 

His retirement follows standard Church protocol requiring bishops to submit their resignation upon reaching age 75, though the Pope has the discretion to accept or delay such resignations.