In a land area of 5,088.4 square kilometers, the Archdiocese of Cebu covers the whole civil province of Cebu. This province island lies at the heart of the Central Philippines called the Visayas region. In the history of Christian evangelization, it prides itself as the Cradle of Christianity in the Far East because it is here that the first European explorers, headed by the Portuguese Ferdinand Magellan, sailing under the auspices of the kingdom of Spain in 1521, established their first settlement and introduced Christianity.
It is located to the east of Negros island; to the west of Leyte, and Bohol islands. It is situated on both sides by the straits of Bohol (between Cebu, and Bohol), and Tañon (between Cebu, and Negros). Cebu is located between 9°25'N and 11°15'N latitude, and between 123°13'E, and 124°5'E longitude in the center of the Philippine Islands.
Cebu is a long narrow island stretching 225 kilometers (140 miles) from north to south, surrounded by 167 neighboring smaller islands, that includes Mactan Island, Bantayan, Malapascua, Olango, and the Camotes Islands.
Like the rest of tropical Philippines, Cebu has basically two seasons, hot or dry (summer) from March to May, and rainy or wet season from June to February. Cebu's tropical climate is tempered by the breezes that blow over the island from the Pacific Ocean. The temperature range over the year is from 26°C to 38°C. At night, temperatures to as low as 18°C during the cooler months. But in the heat of summer temperatures can reach 38°C to 40°C.
Cebu City
Its capital is Cebu City, the oldest city in the Philippine Islands, which forms part of the Cebu Metropolitan Area together with four neighboring cities (Danao City, Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City, and Talisay City) and eight other municipalities.
Cebu City is also the seat of the archdiocese where the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral is, as well as the other ecclesiatical institutions and centers like the Archbishop's Residence, the archdiocesan pastoral center called the Patria de Cebu, and Cebu Caritas with several offices there being housed, and the diocesan seminaries.
Cebu City is also the seat of the archdiocese where the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral is, as well as the other ecclesiatical institutions and centers like the Archbishop's Residence, the archdiocesan pastoral center called the Patria de Cebu, and Cebu Caritas with several offices there being housed, and the diocesan seminaries.
After thirty-three years of sterling service to the Archdiocese of Cebu as Archbishop, Julio Cardinal Rosales, in 1983, turned over to his successor, Archbishop Ricardo J. Vidal, a local church that saw itself rising from the rubble of the Second World War to its present vibrance and on the side hosting, among the other memorable and historic occasions, the 1965 National Celebration of the Fourth Centennial of the Evangelization of the Philippines and Pope John Paul II's visit in 1981.
In August of 1983 the low-key and unassuming Msgr. Vidal found himself in the shoes of the larger-than-life Cardinal Rosales and assumed pastoral administration of over a million faithful in this heartland of the Visayan Islands. With vital structures and infrastructures already put in place (like the seminaries, the Archbishop's Palace, Patria de Cebu and Caritas buildings, the restored Metropolitan Cathedral and multifarious parishes established, to cite some), the new Archbishop set his own course of action and steered the Archdiocese to a new direction.
Owing to his vast experience as formator (he spent most of his priestly ministry as seminary formator culminating in the rectorship of a regional major seminary in Luzon) then Msgr. Vidal, who was elevated to the College of Cardinals in 1985, stamped his mark on the Archdiocese by giving stress on formation. Reflective of his character, he did not instigate shocking reforms. Instead, he introduced gradual but trenchant changes culminating in the convocation of the Fourth Diocesan Synod of Cebu in 1985-86. Since then the thrust of the local church took a definitive shift.
