CEBU Archbishop Alberto “Abet” Uy said he will be doing the State of the Archdiocese Address (Sotaa) regularly.
Speaking on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, hours before he presented his Sotaa at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, Archbishop Uy said he has been doing consultations across the local church since his installation as the archbishop.
Uy had his installation as the Cebu Archbishop on September 30, 2025 and has been serving the local church for about seven months.
The archbishop said consultations are made to determine the long-term plans of the priests on their assigned parishes as one of the many goals they would tackle.
Uy said that in one of the consultations with the clergy, a priest asked him whether there would be a timeframe of his plans as the archbishop since it has been a thing in the past that the archbishop’s plans would fall into “nothingness” and be “forgotten.”
“Sa among kasinatian, aduna’y mga maayong tinguha unya nanglabay ang mga katuigan, nawala ra man pud,” he said, recalling the sentiments of a priest.
(In our experience, there have been good intentions, but as the years passed, they eventually faded away as well.)
“Nabalaka gyud siya, nga basin kutob ra ni sa maayong plano o maayong tinguha, so mao to nga naabot sa akong huna-huna nga I promise you every year, I will make a report,” he added.
(He was really concerned that this might end up being just a good plan or good intention, so that led me to say: I promise you, every year I will make a report.)
Uy said that a Sotaa would be an avenue for the archbishop to tell the public the current situation of the archdiocese.
He said that through the Sotaa, the public may know the state of the clergy, religious persons, faithful, parishes, missions made, challenges, and hopes for the future.
He reminded the public to not expect a “bombastic” address since he is not a political figure but a shepherd of the flock.
On Tuesday, the points the archbishop laid in his Sotaa were vocation efforts, the state of the Cebu clergy, liturgical programs, the mission on Catholic schools, efforts on evangelization, catechesis, and ecclesiastical communities, active participation of the laity, family and life, and youth.
Other points were also laid out such as the continual promotion on the care for the environment, adopt-a-parish and Hatag Paglaum initiatives for the earthquake-struck parishes, cultural heritage, interreligious dialogue, safeguarding of minors and vulnerable adults. (JPS)