Papal Nuncio Archbishop Charles John Brown led a holy mass on Nov. 15 at the San Jose de Antique Cathedral to mark the 40th year of the Diocese of San Jose de Antique.
The diocese, which is led by its fifth Bishop Marvyn A. Maceda, serves the western part of Panay Island and looks after the spiritual needs of nearly half a million Roman Catholics. The diocese has 25 parishes under its jurisdiction.
In his homily, the Papal Envoy cited the contributions of the faithful in the Diocese years ago to the Church.
“We’re celebrating people of faith who came before us. We’re celebrating their faith, their constancy, their fidelity because we are the inheritors. We are beneficiaries of these people who went before us,” Archbishop Brown said.
“Let us follow the footsteps of those who have gone ahead of us 441 years ago, 60 years ago, and 40 years ago- to walk in the footsteps of saints,” the Church leader said.
Pope John XXIII erected the Territorial Prelature of San Jose de Antique on June 18, 1962. The territorial prelature was separated from the Jaro archdiocese comprising the whole province of Antique and became a suffragan to the archdiocese.
Pope John Paul II elevated San Jose de Antique and other territorial prelatures to the rank of diocese on Nov. 15, 1982.
Pope Francis appointed then Monsignor Marvyn Maceda, vicar general of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Naval in Biliran as the fifth bishop of San Jose de Antique on Jan. 7, 2019.
The diocese’s 40th year celebration coincided with its 60th anniversary as a local Church, the 35th anniversary of the 1987 Diocesan Synod, and 441 years of Christianity in Antique.