Diocese of Malolos marks 50 years

MALOLOS CITY—Pope Benedict XVI along with Filipino church leaders hailed the success of the Diocese of Malolos as it celebrated its 50^th Jubilee on Saturday.

All of them underscored the grace of God and the faith of the parishioners, which Bishop Jose Oliveros, the current bishop of the diocese, constituted it in the past 50 years and hoped to have the same in the future.

Reading the message of the Pope, Archbishop Giuseppe Pinto, the apostolic nuncio to the Philippines said the Pontiff congratulates the diocese for its faitfulness.

He added that the Pope Benedict XVI wished the celebrations be use in the further renewal of faith and commitment, while invoking the intervention of St. Mary.

Pinto also led the canonical coronation of the image of the Virgen Inmaculada Concepcion de Malolos, the patron saint of the diocese.

Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, the former archbishop of Manila affirmed the same and added that faithfulness will be rewarded.

He said that members of the diocese must prepare to receive more blessings.

Noting the diocese’s faithfulness, Rosales said in Filipino, “God will drown you with joy.”

The same was echoed by retired Cardinal Ricardo Vidal who served as co-adjutor bishop of the diocese for two years before his appointment in Cebu as archbishop.

Vidal said “Bulakaneyos faith runs deep. May your faith flows with the same faith I encountered when I was a part of your Christian community.”

“May your faith be constant and pure, active and generous, so that it may lead souls, and will bear more fruit in renewal of lives,” he added.

Earlier, Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle of the Metro Manila challenged  parishioners in his homily where he stressed that the biblical passage which states that faith without works is dead.

“Let us care for the people whom God care and love most,” Tagle said and mentioned the widows, orphans, the olds, and the street children.

For his part, Bishop Oliveros said that the diocese has been living with the transforming grace of God and unwavering faith, which also served as the theme for the 50^th Jubilee celebrations.

Oliveros noted that the diocese has been operating homes for battered women, street children, orphans, mentally challenged, drug dependents, and for the aged.

The bishop also said that in the last 50 years, the diocese has witnessed the grace of God and the faithfulness of the parishioners.

He said that when the diocese started in 1962, it only 50 priests serving in 50 parishes with a little over 500,000 parishioners.

Today, Oliveros said that the Diocese of Malolos is one of the biggest in the country with ove 100 parishes, 216 active priests, and at least 3.2-Million in parishioners in the province of Bulacan and the City of Valenzuela in Metro Manila.

Valenzuela City used to be part of Bulacan, until it was included included to Metro Manila in the 70’s.  (Bernardino Balabo)