Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cotabato

The Archdiocese of Cotabato is a Latin Catholic metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church on the island of Mindanao, the Philippines. The archdiocese includes North Cotabato (also known as the P-PALMA area) and the municipality of Banisilan, Cotabato.

Archdiocese of Cotabato Archidioecesis Cotabatensis Arkidiyosesis ng Cotabato (Tagalog) Arkidiyosis sang Cotabato (Hiligaynon) Artsidiyosesis sa Cotabato (Cebuano) Arquidiócesis de Cotabato (Spanish)
Catholic
Cotabato Cathedral
Coat of arms
Location
Country	Philippines
Territory	Cotabato City; Maguindanao del Norte; Maguindanao del Sur; western Cotabato (Alamada, Aleosan, Banisilan, Libungan, Midsayap, Pigcawayan, Pikit); Sultan Kudarat (except for Columbio, Milbuk, Palimbang)
Ecclesiastical province	Cotabato
Statistics
Area	9,575 km2 (3,697 sq mi)
Population Total Catholics	(as of 2021) 2,403,120 1,095,170[1] (45.6%)
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Cathedral	Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Cotabato
Current leadership
Pope	Leo XIV
Metropolitan Archbishop	Angelito R. Lampon
Suffragans	Cerilo Allan U. Casicas (Marbel) Jose Colin M. Bagaforo (Kidapawan)
Bishops emeritus	Cardinal Orlando Quevedo (Archbishop, 1998-2018)
Map
Jurisdiction of the metropolitan see within the Philippines.

Its seat is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Cotabato City. The Archbishop's Palace is at 158 Sinsuat Avenue, Rosary Heights, Cotabato City.

Its current archbishop is Angelito Lampon following the retirement of Cardinal Orlando Quevedo, whose resignation was accepted by Pope Francis on 6 November 2018. He was installed on January 31, 2019.^[2]

History

On 11 August 1950, the Territorial Prelature of Cotabato and Sulu was formed out of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Zamboanga. The Territorial prelature included the three provinces of North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Maguindanao.

On 28 October 1953 it was renamed Territorial Prelature of Cotabato when it lost territory to the new the Apostolic Prefecture of Sulu. It lost territory again on 17 December 1960 to establish the Territorial Prelature of Marbel.

On 5 November 1979, Pope John Paul II elevated the Diocese of Cotabato into Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cotabato.

Coat of arms of the then-Territorial Prelature of Cotabato.

Ordinaries

Metropolitan archbishops

Archbishop			Period in Office	Coat of Arms
1.		Gerard Mongeau	March 27, 1951 - 12 June 1976 (as Territorial Prelate of Cotabato and Sulu and Territorial Prelate of Cotabato) (25 years, 77 days) 12 June 1976 - 5 November 1979 (as Bishop of Cotabato) (3 years, 146 days) 5 November 1979 - 14 March 1980 (as Archbishop of Cotabato) (130 days)
2.		Philip F. Smith	14 March 1980 - 30 May 1998 (18 years, 77 days)
3.		Orlando B. Quevedo	30 May 1998 - 6 November 2018 (20 years, 160 days)
4.		Angelito Lampon	(6 November 2018[3] – present) ((6 years, 279 days))

Auxiliary bishops

Bishop			Period in Office	Coat of Arms
1.		Antonino Francisco Nepomuceno	11 July 1969 (appointed) - 11 December 1979 (resigned)
2.		José Colin Mendoza Bagaforo	2 Feb 2006 (appointed) - 25 July 2016 (appointed Bishop of Kidapawan)

Province

Its ecclesiastical province comprises the metropolitan's own archbishopric and the suffragan dioceses of Kidapawan and Marbel.

Religious congregations in the archdiocese

Men

• Oblates of Mary Immaculate
• Society of Mary or Marist Fathers
• Little Brothers of Mary or Marist Brothers

Women

• Oblates of Notre Dame
• Religious of the Virgin Mary
• Siervas de la Nuestra Senora dela Paz
• Dominican Sisters of Saint Catherine of Siena
• Religious des Notre Dame de Missions
• Carmelite Sisters of Charity
• Associates of Notre Dame
• Xaverian Missionaries of Christ Jesus with missions in Pastoral and Social Services in the Sanitarium and Provincial Jail in Cotabato and in Langgal, Senator Ninoy Aquino, Sultan Kudarat Province.

See also

• Catholic Church in the Philippines