Pope Francis has approved the establishment of the first Diocese of Prosperidad in the Agusan region, according to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

Its first bishop is the auxiliary of the Archdiocese of Cebu, Fr. Ruben Labajo.

Labajo, 58, was ordained priest for the Cebu archdiocese on 10 June 1994.

In June 2022, Pope Francis appointed him as auxiliary bishop of Cebu. He was ordained to the episcopate on 19 August 2022.

The Diocese of Prosperidad, which comprises the province of Agusan del Sur, was carved out of the 57-year-old Diocese of Butuan, which now covers only Agusan del Norte.

The new diocese will be the country’s 87th diocese and will be a suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro.

Prosperidad has a population of nearly 800,000, of whom around 486,000 are Catholics spread across 26 parishes, one quasi-parish, and three mission stations.

It also has 32 diocesan priests, 29 religious priests, and six sisters.