The faithful of the Diocese of Calbayog will gather at the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral today to celebrate a Centennial Thanksgiving Mass as the Diocese turns 100 years old.
The Pope’s Ambassador
The Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Joseph Edward Adams will lead the faithful in today’s centennial celebration. He is expected to arrive at 8:oo am today at the Calbayog airport where he will be accorded planeside honors. Bishop Isabelo Abarquez, Congressman Reynaldo Uy, Mayor Mel Sarmiento and Monsignor Bienvenido Chiquillo will lead church and government officials at the airport ceremonies. A motorcade will then convey the Papal ambassador to the Centennial Pastoral Center to prepare for the Centennial Thanksgiving Mass. The Eucharistic celebration will be followed by a luncheon at the Calbayog City Sports Center.
As of this writing, at least 29 Archbishops and Bishops have confirmed their attendance in the celebration. Priest from region 8, as well as the Dioceses in Cebu and Bicol will be on hand for the event. All 31 parishes of the diocese are expected to send their delegates.
Spiritual Preparations
Preparations for the big event started about two years ago with the various pre-synod activities and the 2nd Diocesan Synod itself which was held on April 14 to 17, 2009.
Catechisms and Missions led by the Redemptorist Missionaries were also held in the various barangays all over the diocese.
Religious Activities
Activities which included novena masses, reflections and catechisms were held in various parishes all over the diocese since April 1, 2010. Other highlights included the Re-dedication of the Cathedral on April 8, 2010; and yesterday’s events which included the Congress of the Clergy with Archbishop Soc Villegas; the Grand Centennial Procession; and the Diocesan Centennial Awards.
Cultural events
The Calbayog Clergy did two concerts. One at the St. Bartholomew Church in Catbalogan and another at the Calbayog City Sports Center. The CKC-Jose Gomez Orchestra also gave a free concert; and the Calbayog LGU through the City Arts and Culture Office present “Calbayog: An Pag-Ilawod” (The Journey). On the other hand, the Diocesan Museum was formally opened on April 8, 2010.
LGU preparations
In line with the celebration, Mayor Mel Sarmiento citing Calbayog City as the seat of the diocese, encouraged the faithful and the concerned LGU Department Managers to give their all-out support to the celebration. For its part, the City Government of Calbayog offered the free use of the Calbayog City Sports Center and the Buses for the various events in the past four days. It also arranged the arrival honors for the Nuncio; and coordinated the security preparations for the event.
Short History (taken from the Calbayog coffee table book)
The Diocese of Calbayog was created by virtue of the consistorial Decree Novas Erigere Dioceses which was issued by Pope St. Pius X on April 10, 1910. The decree separated the islands of Samar and Leyte from the Diocese of Cebu. Calbayog was designated as sede (or seat) of this new diocese.
How and why Calbayog was chosen to be the sede is not exactly known. Calbayog, at that time, was relatively a newcomer among the towns and parishes of Samar and Leyte after all. But the choice had its logic. Calbayog was, by then, the largest and most progressive town in the region. It had the biggest church. It was easily accessible to Leyte and Cebu by sea. But most importantly, it was a stoutly Catholic town, firmly grounded on its religious traditions and institutions with strong and active Catholic lay elite. It was also the only town in the region with a Catholic colegio.
The Bishop of Cebu, Msgr. Thomas Hendrick, must have remembered how in 1904, a group of principales of Calbayog, headed by Señor Buenaventura Rosales, petitioned the American Governor of Samar to have religion taught to their children in the public schools. When the Governor ignored the request, the group, with the help of Fr. Jose Diasnes, parish priest, approached the Bishop and asked him to allow a Catholic school to be established in the town. They requested that it be run either by the Paules (the priests of the Congregation of the Mission) or the Jesuits. The Bishop of Cebu sent his Vicar General, Msgr. Pablo Singzon, to Calbayog to look into the feasibility of the request. This resulted in the establishment in 1905 the Colegio de San Vincente de Paul, which the people of Calbayog supported. This event greatly impressed the Bishop and Msgr. Singzon, and must have been a factor in the choice for the seat of the new diocese.
It was a long way from being a visita of Capul to being the sede and center of a rather large diocese comprising of 86 parishes. This promotion not only confirmed and enhanced the status of Calbayog then. Being the Episcopal seat would exert strong influences on its development in the future.
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