The Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro is an Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines. It is a metropolitan see in the island of Mindanao which comprises the civil Provinces of Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, Camiguin, Agusan Del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, and the Dinagat Islands. Today, it is headed by Archbishop Antonio J. Ledesma, S.J and its seat is located at Saint Augustine Metropolitan Cathedral in Cagayan de Oro City.

Parishes and chaplaincies

The Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro is at present made up of 45 parishes and 8 chaplaincies, communities on the way of becoming full-pledged parishes (40 parishes and 8 chaplaincies in Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon and 5 parishes in Camiguin). Definitely more parishes will have to be opened in the future especially in the city because of the expanding population of the city due to its rapid economic growth and development attracting many people from all over the country.

The Chinese Catholics especially in the city proper also have their own personal parish, the San Lorenzo Ruiz Catholic Community.

Priests in the Archdiocese: Diocesan and religious

There are now 88 diocesan priests’ incardinated to the archdiocese. By the end of the celebration of the Golden Jubilee there may be 6 or 7 more. Most of them are in the parishes but there are also others without a parish maybe because they are either in the seminary or are having diocesan or apostolate tasks. Some are outside the archdiocese either on study-leave, on mission, working in other dioceses, or just on leaves from the ministry, while some are now in retirement.

Most of the diocesan priests have become members of a society of diocesan priests founded by Archbishop Teofilo Camomot: the Society of St. John Vianney (SSJV). Some religious priests who are now taking care of 3 parishes help the priests in the parishes.

At present there are 9 male religious congregations in the Archdiocese

• Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament (SSS)
• Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata of Our Lord Jesus Christ (CSS)
• Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate (FFI)
• Missionary Society of St. Columban (SSC)
• Mission Society of the Philippines (MSP)
• Poor Servants of Divine Providence (PSDP)
• Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (SCJ)
• Society of Jesus (SJ)
• Society of Saint Paul (SSP)

Institute of Consecrates Life for Women

There are at present in the archdiocese, 1 institute of contemplative life (Carmelite nuns), 17 religious institute of active life:

• Angelic Sisters of St. Paul (ASSP)
• Augustinian Sisters of Our Lady (OSA)
• Canossian Daughters of Charity (FDCC)
• Carmelite Missionaries (CM)
• Order of the Company of Mary Our Lady (ODN)
• Daughters of St. Paul (FSP)
• Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM)
• Hijas de Jesus (FI)
• Missionary Congregation of Mary (MCM)
• Order of the Discalced Carmelite (OCD)
• Our Lady’s Missionaries (OLM)
• Religious of the Assumption (RA)
• Religious of the Good Shepherd (RGS)
• Religious Sisters of Mercy (RSM)
• Religious of the Virgin Mary (RVM)
• Siervas de Nuestra Señora dela Paz (SNSP)
• Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres (SPC)
• Ursuline Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (UMSH)

Pious Associations

These are the groups of women on the way of becoming religious institutes of diocesan right:

• Missionary Sisters of the Holy Family (MSHF)
• Theresian Missionary of Mary (TMM)
• Sisters of Social Apostolate (SSA)

The MSHF and the TMM are outgrowths of the original group founded by Archbishop Camomot and brought by him to Cagayan de Oro City: the Daughters of St. Teresa or DST, which group is now based in Cebu.) The Franciscan Missionaries of Mary or FMM used to have a house here. And there is 1 lay association, the Teresiana.

The religious sisters are in various fields of apostolate (like running or administering schools, campus ministry, parish work, catechetics, family life, hospital work, running orphanages, taking care of young ladies, and others).

Seminaries

There are two seminaries in the Archdiocese: a college seminary and a theology seminary.

The college seminary, named, San Jose de Mindanao Seminary, is mainly for the seminarians of the Archdiocese, although it continues to receive seminarians from other ecclesiastical jurisdictions. It has a pre-college year and four years of college. The seminarians used to study within the seminary but due to lack of personnel and other reasons, they now take their courses in Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan, which is owned and run by the Jesuit Fathers. This college seminary was founded by Archbishop Hayes and opened in 1956.

St. John Vianney Theological Seminary caters mainly to the seminarians of the Ecclesiastical Metro Cagayan de Oro, although it also accepts seminarians from other ecclesiastical jurisdictions. It has a Spiritual Pastoral Formation Year and four years of Theology. In consortium with Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan, it now offers a Masters Degree in Pastoral Theology. It is run mainly by the Jesuit Fathers though there are now many diocesan priests teaching in the seminary. The construction of the seminary was begun by Archbishop Cronin and finished by Archbishop Tuquib.

The Archdiocese has been blessed with so many vocations that our seminaries even have to refuse entry to many applicants due to lack of space.

While older priests are products of the UST Central Seminary (Manila), San Jose Seminary (Manila), San Carlos Seminary (Makati), or REMASE (Davao), most of the younger clergy are products St. John Vianney Theological Seminary.

Lay religious organizations, movements, and covenant communities

While the archdiocese has many and varied traditional lay organizations, like the Knights of Columbus, Catholic Women's League, Legion of Mary, Apostleship of Prayer, Cursillos de Cristiandad, and many others, it has also experienced here the blossoming of many lay groups and what they call now the covenant communities. Thus, they have, for example, the Christian Family Movement, the Charismatic Movement (in all its many expressions and forms), the Neocatechumenal Way, the many so-called covenant communities, like the Couples for Christ and its many outreaches to widows and children, the Kahayag sa Dios (also with its many outreaches), and many others. This emergence started after Vatican II.

University, colleges and schools

To respond to the need for Catholic education, there is one university (Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan, run by the Jesuits), and 6 colleges (Lourdes, St. Rita’s, Christ the King, and St. Mary’s, run by the RVM Sisters; and Fatima College in Mambajao, run by the Religious Sisters of Mercy). Most of the Catholic educational institutions were either founded by Archbishop Hayes himself or founded during his time.

There are 18 catholic high schools, most of which are run by Sisters. A group of Sisters, the Hijas de Jesus, administers the only Chinese Catholic school in Cagayan de Oro, the Kong Hua School.

Retreat centers

There are now 5 retreat centers or houses where people can go for recollections, days of prayer or solitude, or retreats. The latest of these is the Cardinal Hoffner’s House of Prayer owned by the Archdiocese.

Hospitals and Rehabilitation centers

For the physical, psychological, psychiatric or emotionally sickpeople, the archdiocese has: 1 hospital (Maria Reyna Xavier University Hospital, founded by Archbishop Hayes and currently owned by a partnership between the archdiocese, the Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres, and Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan); and 4 rehabilitation centers, the more known of which is the House of Hope of the Archdiocese for the mentally sick.