NUOVA CACERES, DIOCESI di. - Diocese in the Philippine Islands. It covers 17,617 sq. km. and has 1,666,459 inhabitants, of whom 1,583,137 are Catholics. It has 110 parishes served by 196 diocesan priests and 23 regular clergy, 1 seminary, 2 male and 9 female religious communities (Ann. Pont., 1951, p. 293).
Founded by Clement VIII on 14 Aug. 1595, upon the establishment of the ecclesiastical province of Manila, of which it is still a suffragan today. Missionary work was begun in 1565 by the Augustinians, assisted from 1578 by the Franciscans. In 1579 Francisco de Sande, governor of the Philippines, founded the city of N. C., which was erected into an episcopal see in 1595. The first bishop was Francisco de Ortega O.E.S.A., who took possession in 1600. Under Bishop Francisco Gainza, the Lazarists were entrusted with the seminary in 1870. In 1886 the Capuchins arrived in N. C. Since 1898, when most of the Spanish religious left the Philippines, the clergy has been almost exclusively secular.
The episcopal residence is at Naga, Camarines, Sur.