(Lipa City) – The year-long activities, preceded by an intensive three-year preparation, to commemorate the Centennial Jubilee of Lipa as a diocese ended with a solemn Mass, presided by Archbishop Ramon C. Arguelles, accompanied by His Eminences, Gaudencio Cardinal B. Rosales and Ricardo Cardinal J. Vidal, thirty other Archbishops and Bishops of the Philippines, headed by CBCP Vice-President Archbishop Jose Palma of Cebu and close to two hundred diocesan and religious priests from the Archdiocese and beyond.
Before the three-o’clock Mass, held on the Cathedral grounds, Archbishop Arguelles unveiled a historical marker from the National Historical Institute, represented by its Executive Director, Ludovico Badoy. Vice-President Jojemar Binay and Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, both native-born Batanguenos, assisted the Archbishop in the symbolic gesture of marking this historic event. Later, Cardinal Rosales blest the marker.
Cardinal Vidal later blest a wall marker, which was unveiled by Bishop Salvador Quizon, Auxiliary Bishop-Emeritus of Lipa, and Lipa City Mayor, Hon. Meynard Sabili.
In his homily, the Archbishop traced the history of the diocese, which owed its existence to St. Pope Pius X in 1910, who established it as a diocese together with Zamboanga, Tuguegarao, and Calbayog, together with the Prefecture of Palawan.
He also traced the evangelization of Southern Tagalog to the first missionaries that accompanied Martin Goite and Juan Salcedo, who embarked various expeditions around the Lake Taal, from where the evangelization of the different provinces nearby were carried out.
“After Cebu, the province of Batangas can boast of having served as the gateway of the Gospel to these islands of evangelical importance,” he pointed out.
He also referred to the Glorious Cross, which his predecessor, Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, upon the celebration of the Great Jubilee Year 2000, thought of, together with the clergy, that depicts on one side the Trinity and on the other side the Holy Family.
“Hardly did anyone imagine that ten years later, during the local Jubilee, the focus will again be the Glorious Cross,” he mused aloud. “The whole Archdiocese was drawn to a deeper reflection on the depth of the mystery of Consecratio ad Trinitatem Sanctam and Transformatio ut Sancta Familia,” he continued to explain the theme adopted in the year of the jubilee.
Lastly, he emphasized that the event is not putting a closure but rather an invitation to the next centennial event of the local church. He urged the faithful of Lipa to become steadfast in carrying out three “missions” which he put into the acronym “SEC”, standing for Sanctification, Evangelization and Communion.
The grand celebration ended with a dinner-reception at the Lipa City youth Center. The Lipa Diocesan Catholic Schools Association (LIDICSA) took charge of the program which included welcome dance, production numbers depicting the history of the diocese and a video presentation of the highlights of the centennial celebration. /lcd
