Diocese of Balanga/Prior history

The Catholic Church in the Philippines, which includes Bataan, was governed by the Archdiocese of Mexico during the Spanish times. Pope Gregory XIII created the Diocese of Manila on February 6, 1579, losing the Philippines from the archdiocese's jurisdiction as well as starting to administer the Catholic Church in the country. With the first diocese created, it is considered the Philippines' mother diocese, with its seat, Manila Cathedral, as the country's mother church. On August 14, 1595, the Diocese of Manila was elevated to an archdiocese by Pope Clement VIII. Bataan remained under the jurisdiction of the archdiocese until September 9, 1949, when the Diocese of San Fernando in Pampanga was erected after being created by Pope Pius XII on December 11, 1948. Overall, Bataan as part of the ecclesiastical territory of Manila, lasted for 371 calendar years and 27 leaders, from the Spanish period to the post-American period under the leadership of Bishop Domingo de Salazar to Archbishop Michael O'Doherty. In 1940, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) unveiled the marker of the Parish of St. Joseph in Balanga. The church was destroyed during World War II and renovated after the war. From September 9, 1949, to November 8, 1975, the province became part of the Archdiocese of San Fernando for 26 years, starting with the installation of Bishop Cesar Maria Guerrero y Rodriguez and ending with the Diocese of Balanga's canonical erection with Bishop Celso Nogoy Guevarra's installation as the first bishop. On March 17, 1975, the Diocese of San Fernando was elevated to an archdiocese. At that same date, the Diocese of Balanga was created, which led to Bataan's separation from the ecclesiastical territory of Pampanga upon its erection on November 8, 1975.