# Roman Catholic Diocese of Boac

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Boac (Lat: "Dioecesis Boacensis") is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in the Philippines.
Created suffragan of the Archdiocese of Lipa, separating from the Mother Diocese of Lucena on 2 April 1977, it has jurisdiction over the province of Marinduque. It has a total area of 959.2 square kilometres (370.3 sq mi).
On November 21, 2024, the Diocese elected The Reverend Father Elino P. Esplana as Diocesan administrator. He will lead the Diocese for the time being until the appointment of a new bishop for Boac.

## History

In his book Estado geografico, topografico, estadistico, historico-religioso de la santa y apostolica provincial de S. Gregorio Magno, 1865, Felix de Huerta says that the first apostle to Marinduque was the Franciscan missionary Estevan Cruz, who planted the first cross in 1579 that paved the way for the evangelization of the people. The first visita was established in 1580 and it was called "Monserrat de Marinduque" (now Boac) with Alonzo Banol as its minister. In 1609 two other "visitas" were instituted, "San Juan de Marinduque" (now Sta. Cruz) and San Bernardo de Marinduque (now Gasan) with Pedro de Talavera and Juan Rosado as their first pastors, respectively. Later on, the Franciscans ceded the administration of the island to the Archbishop of Manila in 1613.
The Jesuits in the Philippines 1581–1768, a book written by Horacio de la Costa, states that Archbishop Miguel Garcia Serrano of Manila entrusted the island of Marinduque to the care of the Society of Jesus in 1621. The Jesuits stayed in the province and founded the town of Boac on 8 December 1622 and later on the towns of Sta. Cruz and Gasan. By virtue of a Spanish royal decree dated 19 May 1864, the Augusti-nian Recollect Fathers took over the spiritual administration of Boac in exchange for the curacies they left behind to the hands of the Jesuit missionaries in Mindanao.
Before the creation of the Diocese of Lipa by Pope Pius X, the island of Marinduque, since 14 August 1595 till 10 April 1910, belonged to Archdiocese of Manila. When the Diocese of Lucena was created on 20 August 1950, Marinduque became a part of her. On 2 April 1977, by virtue of the apostolic bull "Cum Tempore Maturare" issued by Pope Paul VI, Marinduque was created as an independent diocese, called Diocese of Boac.
On 10 May 1978, carried by the effect of the papal bull, the Diocese of Boac was canonically erected according to the Decretum Executorium signed by Bruno Torpigliani, the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines. Rafael M. Lim, the former Bishop of Laoag since 1971 and a native of Boac, was appointed on 26 January 1978 by Paul VI as the first bishop of the new diocese.

## Ordinaries

| No. | Name | From | Until | Notes |
| 1 | Rafael Montiano Lim | 1978 | September 10, 1998 | Died in office. |
| 2 | José Francisco Oliveros | March 20, 2000 | August 5, 2004 | Installed bishop of Malolos succeeding Bishop Rolando Tirona who was transferred to the Prelature of Infanta. Died in office while serving the same post. |
| 3 | Reynaldo Gonda Evangelista | February 22, 2005 | June 5, 2013 | Installed Bishop of Imus succeeding Luis Antonio Tagle who became Archbishop of Manila. |
| 4 | Marcelino Antonio M. Maralit Jr. | March 17, 2015 | November 21, 2024 | Installed as Bishop of San Pablo on November 21, 2024 succeeding Buenaventura Malayo Famadico after his resignation. |