The country's oldest Catholic bishop died Saturday at the age of 96, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said.
Retired Bishop Manuel Sobreviñas died at the Cardinal Santos Hospital in San Juan City at 12:45 p.m., reported the CBCPNews, the official news service provider of the CBCP.
The CBCP said that Sobreviñas was born in Dinalupihan, Bataan and was ordained priest for the Archdiocese of Manila in 1951.
"In 1979, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Manila, a post he served for 14 years," the CBCP said.
Sobreviñas was appointed as the third bishop of Imus, Cavite in 1993. "He retired in October 2001 at the age of 77," the CBCP said.
His passing was also confirmed by the Diocese of Imus in a Facebook post.
“His Excellency Most Rev. Manuel C. Sobrevinas, DD, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Imus, has gone to the Father at 12:45 p.m. today,” it said.
“Further details of his wake will follow today. Please include him in all your mass intentions,” it added.