San Fernando Diocese to Commemorate 75th Anniversary with Apostolic Nuncio
The Diocese of San Fernando in Pampanga is set to mark its 75th founding anniversary on December 11, with a series of religious festivities.
Most Rev. Charles John Brown, the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, will grace the occasion.
A thanksgiving mass is scheduled for the anniversary, which will also see the unveiling of seven jubilee pilgrim churches and the ceremonial illumination of the ’75 Years Full of Grace’ Giant lantern.
The event will feature a rendition of the ’75 Years Full of Grace’ hymn by Bituin Escalante and the Mater Dei Music Ministry.
A procession featuring the revered images of Santo Cristo del Perdon y Caridad and Virgen delos Remedios will be a centerpiece, alongside the official banners of all archdiocesan parishes and shrines.
Established on December 11, 1948, by the Apostolic Constitution Probe Noscitur, the Diocese of San Fernando originally encompassed several provinces.
It was a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Manila with its first bishop, César María Guerrero, DD, inaugurated in September 1949. The Our Lady of the Assumption parish church in San Fernando was designated as the cathedral of the new diocese.
Bishop Guerrero was instrumental in founding several religious institutions and traditions, including the Mater Boni Consilii Seminary and the Carmelite Monastery in Angeles. He retired in 1957 and passed away in 1961, with his final resting place beside the monastery chapel.
Over time, the diocese underwent territorial changes, leading to the creation of new dioceses along provincial lines.
Emilio A. Cinense, DD, succeeded as the second bishop and saw the diocese’s elevation to an archdiocese in 1975, with three suffragan dioceses under its jurisdiction.
Following Archbishop Cinense, Oscar C. Cruz, DD, and later Paciano B. Aniceto, DD, served as archbishops, with Aniceto being the first native of Pampanga in the role.
The 50th anniversary in 1998 was commemorated by consecrating the Cathedral of the Assumption as The Metropolitan Cathedral of San Fernando, officiated by the papal nuncio at the time, Antonio Franco, DD.