It has an area of 3,976 sq. km. with a population of 577,167, of whom 567,122 are Catholics. It comprises 39 parishes served by 51 diocesan priests and 10 regular clergy; it has a seminary, 3 male religious communities, and 5 female religious communities (Ann. Pont. 1953, p. 414).
The diocese was erected by Pope Pius XII with the apostolic constitution *In sublimi* of 8 November 1941, as a suffragan of the archdiocese of Cebu, elevating the church of St Joseph to the rank and dignity of a cathedral.
BIBL.: AAS, 34 (1942), pp. 25-27. Enrico Josi