"Through the Apostolic letter sealed and dated December 9, 1989 and inscribed by the opening words 'Philippinis in Insulis' the Most Holy Father by Divine Providence, Pope John Paul II conceding graciously to the petitions presented to him, has separated from the Archdiocese of Caceres 16 parishes, creating them as a Prelature to be known henceforth as the 'Prelature of Libmanan' canonically erected March 19, 1990, a suffragan of Caceres, Naga City."

          Simultaneously, Rev. Msgr. Prospero Nale Arellano, a native of Bombon, Camarines Sur and former Rector of the Seminary of the Archdiocese of Caceres who possesses the characteristics of a competent shepherd and fervor for pastoral work has been canonically ordained as its first bishop to administer the well being of the newly-erected Prelature.

          The sixteen parishes that comprises the new Prelature are: St. Rita of Cascia, del Gallego; San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila, Godofredo Reyes Sr., Ragay; Most Holy Trinity, Ragay; St. Peter Baptist, Lupi; St. Pius X, Villazar, Sipocot; St. John the Baptist, Sipocot; St. Paschal Baylon, Barcelonita, Cabusao; St. Bernardine of Sienna, Cabusao; St. James the Apostle, Libmanan; St. Vincent Ferrer, San Vicente, Libmanan; Our Lady of Pillar, San Isidro, Libmanan; St. Rose of Lima, Pasacao; St. Michael the Archangel, Pamplona; St. John the Baptist, San Fernando; St. Joseph the Worker, Milaor; and Sts. Philip and James, Minalabac.

          Having no pastoral program and structure of its own at the start, the new Prelature depended entirely on the pastoral offices of the mother diocese, the Archdiocese of Caceres.   The pastoral programs of the Archdiocese of Caceres was followed by the Prelature, the catechists of the prelature were trained and given on-going formations by the Caceres Catechetical Center in Naga City, and the functions of various offices such as those of the WESTY Commissions depended very much on those of the mother diocese.

          A year after the erection of the Prelature, a new hope dawned on the Prelature when the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP II) was convened by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).   It was one beautiful opportunity for the clergy of the Prelature to reawaken and revitalize the church-consciousness of the people of God with parish consultations and conferences, both for preparation and post council reflections.

          With these processes, the clergy realized that the situation and needs of the prelature were distinct from those of the Archdiocese of Caceres, thus, the need for a viable pastoral program of its own was anticipated.

          To initiate this, Bishop Prospero Arellano, called for the PRELATURE CONSULTATION of the Prelature of Libmanan on September 6-10, 1992 with the theme; A LIVING FAITH FOR A RENEWED CHURCH. With the assistance of the Centre for the Development of Human Resource in Rural Asia (CENDHRRA), the Prelature Consultation formulated the Vision-Mission of the Prelature, evaluated the existing programs and structures, both on the Prelature and parish levels, and set up the priority programs and plans for the initial post assembly activities.

          The Priests General Assembly decided on specific plan of action to enflesh the results of the Consultation. Various technical groups were approached for assistance: LUSSA, Colegio de Santa Isabel, KALIS, the Pag-asang Bikolnon Foundation, Inc. (Pagbicol) and the Ateneo de Naga Social Science Research Centre (SSRC).   With the help pf these groups, the vision and mission of the prelature was further clarified and operationalized into concrete plans of action.   Skills training programs were drawn, research plans were formulated and thrusts and goals for three (3) years were defined.          From February 25 to March 17, 1993, the Parish Pastoral Assemblies were held by the different Vicariates in order to deepen the understanding of the parishioners of the PCP II documents, articulate their commitment to the parish, describe the lights and shadows of their parish, formulate the parish vision and mission and decide the initial plan for the continuing formation and program of the Parish Core Group.

          In the same year, 1993, a participative action research was conducted to provide hard data on the religious-socio economic cultural profile of the whole prelature and to serve as the basis for the Comprehensive Prelature Pastoral 5-Year Development Program.

          Also in the same year, trainings were conducted to build up human and material resources in the Prelature; the Seminarians Summer Apostolate, the BCC-CO trainings and the research skills trainings.

          On the first month of 1994, the Prelature conducted the Pastoral Management and Planning (PMP) activities which resulted in the prioritized action program of each parish.

          In March 1994, the Bishop went on a pastoral visit to all the parishes to give an opportunity for a parish celebrations of the PAPL I and to ensure the implementation of the programs of each parish.

          The First Parish Pastoral Assembly of the Prelature of Libmanan (PAPL I) was convened towards the end of the first quarter of 1994 which produced the 109 Decrees of the Prelature of Libmanan.   These decrees aided the clergy and the parishioners in the process of implementing parish programs.

          Based on the parish prioritized action programs of each parish and the salient points contained in the PAPL I Decrees, the prelature came up with the Five Year Comprehensive Pastoral Development Program.
 
 

         The Prelature of Libmanan is located at the northern part of the province of Camarines Sur, bounded on the north by Camarines Norte, on the east by the San Miguel Bay, on the west by the Ragay Gulf and Quezon Province, and on the south by the city of Naga.   The prelature covers a land area of about 1,862,28 square kilometers with twenty-one (21) parishes, eighteen parishes are in the first political/geographical district of the province, while the other two are in the second district.

         The Prelature has one (1) Bishop, thirty-five (35) priests and one (1) religious priest, all of whom are Filipinos and natives of the province. There are fourteen (14) religious sisters from the Daughters of Mary (6), Dominican Sisters of Siena (5), and Sisters of St. Paul of Charters (3).

         There is no formation house for seminarians at present but it is being planned in the near future.   Neither is there any formation house for religious sisters at present in the Prelature.

         The terrain of the prelature is mostly rolling hills and mountains.   Dry season comes during the months of March to June and very pronounced rain period comes during the months of July to November.   It lies within the path of more destructive typhoons during October to November.   The population is approximately 509,491 (1999 statistics) of which 494,652 or 94.7% are Roman Catholics, 85% are in very rural areas.   The unemployment rate is estimated at 12.5% and literacy rate is 83%.
          Approximately, one (1) our of four (4) is out of school and these are mostly in the ages between 12 to 18 years old. Ordinarily, they would be in the Secondary level or Tertiary level of education.

          The Prelature is accessible to rich fishing grounds of Burias Pass, Ragay Gulf, San Miguel Bay and the Libmanan River.   Fish products include anchovy, sardines, pumice, pampano, shrimps and crabs.

          Primary crops are rice, fish (both fresh and dried), coconuts, abaca, pilinuts, corn sugar cane, black pepper, coffee, poultry and livestock, and fruits such as banana, pineapple and citrus.   Secondary crops include fruits, vegetables, rootcrops, and vines for cottage industry.   The major industries include agriculture, livestock and poultry raising, fishing, food processing, furniture, pottery, nipa shingles making and handicraft.

          The mortality rate in the Prelature is 60/1000 with 50% of the deaths occurring among the pre-schoolers (0-6 years old).   Morbidity rate is 234/1000 with upper respiratory diseases topping the list of illnesses.

          Survival of children is one of the major concerns of the community alongside with accessibility to potable water, poor roads and transportation facilities, and illegal logging and fishing. Proper housing is also one of the problems of the people with 73.8% having houses made of light materials and in poor condition.