erected in 1988, the diocese was created from territory of the roman catholic archdiocese of palo, to which the diocese remains a suffragan. the first appointed bishop was the most rev. filomeno gonzales bactol d.d (1988–2017). on october 13, 2017, his resignation was accepted by the pope two years after reaching the mandatory age of 75. pope francis appointed msgr. rex ramirez, a priest from archdiocese of palo, as the new bishop of naval. his episcopal ordination took place at the palo metropolitan cathedral on january 9, 2018. he was canonically installed on january 12, 2018 at naval cathedral. bishop ramirez is the second bishop of the diocese.