Archbishop Charles Brown, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, presides over Mass at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral for the 20th canonical erection anniversary of the Diocese of Pasig on Aug. 21, 2023. PHOTO COURTESY OF PASIG CATHEDRAL
By Fr. Lito Jopson
August 23, 2023
Pasig City
Metro Manila’s Catholic Diocese of Pasig, founded in 2003, celebrated its 20th anniversary on Monday, Aug. 21.
The celebration climaxed with a Mass presided over by Archbishop Charles Brown, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, at the Pasig Cathedral.
Commenting on the diocese’s motto, ‘Ut Unum Sint’ (Jn. 17:21), he emphasized several points about the celebration, starting with the definition of a diocese as the people of God under the leadership of a bishop.
“What we are celebrating is a community of people, brothers and sisters in Christ, who have been living the Catholic life, obviously for 450 years as a parish here in Pasig, but now for 20 years, as a local Church; a group of people, of believers, who go forward together,” Archbishop Brown explained.
He went on to reflect on the ongoing synod on synodality, which, according to him, “is a sense of the Church as a caravan that is walking together.”
“And you and this caravan have been walking as a synodal reality for 20 years now. And we celebrate this synodal process, Catholics walking together on the path that leads to the kingdom of God,” he underscored.
Speaking about the fruits of the diocese, the papal nuncio used the image of the odometer to measure the progress of the local church, not only in population or newly opened parishes, but also in the love everyone has for each other.
Quoting St. Thomas Aquinas, he said, “The effect of love is unity. Unity is the result of love. Love draws us together.”
“How do we assess this love? How much love do we have for one another? How do we love the least, the last, and the lost? When people have fallen away from the faith, do we invite them, ‘Come back to the caravan of Christ?'”
“Furthermore, unity is not uniformity. We may have a bishop, a group of priests, religious, fathers, mothers, and students. But we all have different roles. If we live in love, there is harmony. In music, we hear a symphony. We may have different roles, but we are one. That is unity,” Archbishop Brown added.
Before the Mass, a welcome ceremony for the nuncio was held on the patio of the cathedral, led by Mayor Vico Sotto of Pasig.
Vice Mayor Robert Jaworski Jr. also read the resolution recognizing and extending the reception of Pasig City to the nuncio, who is also the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps.
Meanwhile, in his welcome address, Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara of Pasig reported to the papal nuncio on how much the diocese has developed since its creation two decades ago.
He said the diocese now has almost two million Catholics ministered to by 46 diocesan priests, three deacons, 15 religious men, 56 religious women, and numerous lay servant leaders.
The diocese also includes 30 parishes, one personal parish for the Korean community, and at least 11 diocesan schools.
“The faith of our catholic populace has also grown because of popular religiosity through many pious Marian devotions and the like,” Vergara said.
The bishop also recounted the synodal process that the clergy underwent, which led to the development of a strategic plan containing the vision, mission, goals, and objectives for the diocese over the next three years.
“Through this plan and by God’s grace, we hope and pray that many people from all walks of life be listened to and pastorally cared for so that we can truly become a synodal church, especially serving the least, the last, and the lost in the peripheries,” he said.
In addition to the 20th anniversary of the Pasig diocese, two other celebrations are being commemorated this year: the 450th Jubilee Year of Immaculate Conception Cathedral, inaugurated by the bishop on Dec. 8, 2022, and the 450th Pasig Day, held on July 2, 2023.
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