BISHOP SOC VILLEGAS
WAS INSTALLED
IN BALANGA, BATAAN
ON JULY 3
Bishop Socrates B. Villegas was installed third bishop of the Diocese of Balanga at Eucharistic Celebrations beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 3, 2004 at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Balanga, Bataan.
He was received by the civil authorities of Bataan led by its governor and Balanga City mayor in simple ceremonies at the boundary of Bataan (and Pampanga) on July 2.
Jaime L. Cardinal Sin, Archbishop-Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Manila, Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, Archbishop of Cebu, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio B. Rosales and Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Antonio Franco led some 60 archbishops and bishops and about 200 priests attending the installation rites.
Pope John Paul II appointed Bishop Villegas the new bishop of Balanga on May 3, 2004. He takes over the post vacated by Bishop Honesto F. Ongtioco, who is now the bishop of the new Diocese of Cubao. Bishop Ongtioco became the ordinary bishop of Balanga after the retirement of its first bishop, Celso Guevarra, who died in 2003.
Before his appointment to Balanga, Bishop Villegas, 43, uxiliary bishop of Manila. He was ordained bishop in 2001 by Jaime L. Cardinal Sin, to whom he served as secretary for 15 years—soon after his ordination as a priest until his ordination as bishop.
He was also the Rector of Mary, Queen of Peace, Our Lady of EDSA Shrine, a post he occupied from the time of its erection in 1989.
He also served the archdiocese in various capacities: Vicar General, Minister for Priestly Formation, member of the Archdiocesan Finance Board, Minister for Youth Affairs, and district head of the archdiocese’s ecclesiastical districts of Quezon City South, Makati and Manila on varying years. He was also Moderator Curiae of the archdiocese.
Bishop Villegas also presently chairs the Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Catholic Education (ECCCE) of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
The Diocese of Balanga, a suffragan of the Archdiocese of San Fernando, Pampanga, was made a diocese in 1975. It covers 21 parishes spread over 12 municipalities. ##
