The Diocese of San Jose, located in Nueva Ecija, Philippines, was established by Pope John Paul II on February 16, 1984 by virtue of the
papal bull Saepe Catholicorum Utilitas. The diocese consists of territories taken from the Diocese of Cabanatuan. Sixteen out of the forty-one parishes formerly belonging to the Diocese of Cabanatuan were incorporated into the Diocese of San Jose, Nueva Ecija. Approximately 80 percent of the population within the diocese identify as Roman Catholic, while the remaining 20 percent belong to various other religious groups and denominations. The seat of the diocese is the
Saint Joseph the Worker Cathedral. Bishop Florentino F. Cinense was appointed as San Jose's first bishop on May 24, 1984. The canonical erection of the diocese, as well as the ordination and installation of Cinense as its first bishop all occurred on July 14, 1984, during a Mass presided by
Bruno Torpigliani, then
papal nuncio to the Philippines, who acted as Cinense's, principal consecrator with Federico Limon and Ciceron Tumbocon as co-consecrators. Bishop Leo M. Drona had been a
Salesian of Don Bosco for twenty nine-years prior to his episcopal appointment. He is the first Filipino Salesian priest as well as the first Filipino Salesian bishop. In June 2004, Drona was transferred to the
Diocese of San Pablo, Laguna as its third bishop. He was succeeded by Bishop
Mylo Hubert C. Vergara, who was appointed by Pope John Paul II on February 12, 2005 and was installed as the third bishop of the Diocese of San Jose de Nueva Ecija on May 14, 2005. Vergara was subsequently transferred to the
Diocese of Pasig in 2011. On May 15, 2012,
Pope Benedict XVI named
Roberto C. Mallari as the diocese's fourth bishop; he was installed on July 10 of that year. On December 29, 2024,
Pope Francis transferred Bishop Mallari to the Diocese of Tarlac. Following Mallari's installation in Tarlac on March 27, 2025, Fr. Getty Ferrer was elected as its
diocesan administrator on March 29, 2025. On November 21, 2025, Pope
Leo XIV appointed Rev. Fr.
Samuel Agcaracar,
SVD, Rector of the
Divine Word Seminary and Founder of the SVD Laudato Si Farm in
Tagaytay as its fifth bishop. ==Ordinaries==