MANILA, Philippines — Pope Francis has created a new diocese in northeastern Mindanao region, the Vatican announced on Tuesday, making it the 87th diocese in the Philippines, the country with the world’s third-biggest population of Catholics.

The new Roman Catholic Diocese of Prosperidad covers the province of Agusan del Sur.

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It was carved out of the 57-year-old Diocese of Butuan, which now covers only Agusan del Norte province. The new diocese will be a suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro.

Its first bishop will be Ruben Labajo, 58, the auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Cebu.

The Pope’s decision to split the Butuan diocese stemmed from a petition filed by Bishop Cosme Damian Almedilla of Butuan in 2023, which was eventually endorsed by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines. —Dexter Cabalza