Bishop Crispin Varquez presides over Mass at the Cathedral Parish of the Nativity of Our Lady on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee celebration of the Diocese of Borongan, Oct. 22, 2021. PHOTO COURTESY OF TETTEL OBON
By Mariel Celine L. Serquiña
October 23, 2021
Manila, Philippines
Catholics in Eastern Samar province celebrated the 61st anniversary of the founding of the Diocese of Borongan on Friday, Oct. 22.
Hundreds of people representing the parishes in the diocese packed the Borongan Cathedral. Bishop Crispin Varquez, the diocese’s 6th bishop, presided over the Mass.
Established in 1960, the diocese covers whole province and is home to about half-a-million Catholics in 32 parishes and four chaplaincies.
In his message, Pope Francis joined the diocese in thanking God “for the abundant graces of the past six decades”.
He also prayed that the commemoration “will be an occasion for the renewed pursuit of holiness, fidelity to the Gospel and concern for the poor”.
Varquez, in his homily, said communal support led the diocese to thrive for the past 61 years.
“We continue to work with our lay people, who are very eager and passionate to take part in the mission of the Church in the spirit of joy and volunteerism,” he said.
The bishop added that the events that led the diocese to its current state was because of God’s guidance.
“Today, we thank the Lord for the past 61 years that he has walked and journeyed with us. We do not see all these as mere human achievements but we see all of these as God’s gift to the Diocese of Borongan,” Varquez said.
“We look forward for another 60 years and we are very confident and hopeful because Jesus and our Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary is with and will be with us on the way,” he added.
DONATE TO CBCP NEWS
CBCPNews is a church-based news agency operated by the Media Office of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines. This apostolate aims at helping the work of the new evangelization through the news media. This is non-commercial and non-profit. That being the case, it totally depends on generosity of its readers and supporters.
Should you wish to donate kindly press the donate button. Thank you.
No comments: