Southern Leyte (Cebuano: Habagatang Leyte; Filipino: Timog Leyte) is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Maasin. Southern Leyte was once a sub-province of Leyte before it was divided from the latter. Southern Leyte includes Limasawa, an island to the south where the first Roman Catholic Mass was held and considered to be the birthplace of Roman Catholicism in the Philippines.