Bishop honesto ongtioco biography of abraham

Roman Catholic cathedral in Bataan, Philippines

Church in Bataan, Philippines

The Cathedral-Shrine of Saint Joseph, Husband of Mary, commonly known as Balanga Cathedral, in Balanga, Bataan, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Balanga which comprises entire of the civil province of Bataan, Philippines. Currently, Noel Niguid and Alwin Bobis serve as the cathedral priests. On March 19, 2015, the cathedral was formally declared a diocesan shrine, changing its status from cathedral-parish to cathedral-shrine.

Structure, interior, and exterior

The present church structure of Balanga is credited to Fray Benito Rivas OP, parish priest of Balanga from 1869 to 1876. From this remodeling, the good friar added transepts and a dome to the church, contributing to its handsome appearance. Archival photos also show that this construction update also gave its altar a magnificent two-tiered baldachin for a retablo similar to those found at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, something that is highly unusual, if not one-of-a-kind in the whole archipelago. Aside from his great contributions to the church construction, Fray Rivas is also recognized for his contributions to the livelihood of the people of Balanga.

The original cathedra was wider, and colored green and gold, with the bishop's chair at the center. When Bishop Socrates Villegas renovated the cathedral, the cathedra became narrower and now colored marble white and the chair has red with golden border. Before the cathedra was changed, the bishop's chair was movable became the priest's chair upon renovation. The golden border was present until it was removed when Bishop Ruperto Santos (appointed April 1, 2010) assumed office as the fourth bishop of Balanga on July 8, 2010. The chair's clothing retained its red color until it changed to its current orange with a cross at its backrest in 2015. During sede vacante without an appointed bishop and bishop-elect periods where the d

Manila (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The cause of beatification of the Servant of God Darwin Ramos (pictured), a Filipino street kid who died in 2012 from a serious degenerative disease, opened in the Diocese of Cubao (suffragan of Manila).

The official announcement came yesterday, during a solemn Eucharistic function (video 1) in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

Before the celebration, the diocese held a press conference (video 2) which was also attended by Darwin’s mother, Erlinda Ramos.

“He was known to be a simple and holy man,” said Mgr Honesto Flores Ongtioco, bishop of Cubao, during the Mass.

“This whole process is not just about his life but also about us. We are all called by God to holiness,” he added.

The postulator of the cause is a French Dominican, Fr Thomas de Gabore, who met Darwin in the last weeks of his life.

Describing him as “a simple teenager”, he explained that “in his heart, his spiritual life was very impressive. He was deeply devoted to Jesus Christ despite suffering.”

The Diocese of Cubao received the green light to begin the beatification process on 31 May. Two months earlier, Card Angelo Becciu, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, had signed the nihil obstat to start of the cause, which includes the collection of documents and testimonies on the life and holiness of Darwin Santos.

Once completed, the documentation will be sent to the Vatican, where the Congregation will examine the information collected. If it determines that the young man led a heroic life based on Christian virtues, the Church will confer upon him the title of "venerable".

The next steps are beatification and canonisation. Usually, holiness requires two miracles achieved through the candidate's intercession, one for beatification and one for canonisation.

His Excellency Most Reverend Honesto Ongtioco, Bishop of Cubao; the Very Reverend Fr. Rico Ponce, Prior Provincial of the Order of Carmelites – Philippine Province of St. Titus Brandsma; dear brothers in the Order of Carmelites; the priests concelebrating in this Mass; all the members of the Carmelite Family; religious sisters and brothers; reverend deacons; seminarians; brothers and sisters in Christ:

Every Eucharist is thanksgiving.  And in a particular way, we offer this Eucharist to thank God for the gift of a new Carmelite saint, St. Titus Brandsma, the titular patron of the Philippine Province of the Order of Carmelites, canonized by Pope Francis, together with nine others, on May 15, 2022.

As we thank God for the gift of St. Titus to the Church, I invite you to reflect on the role of the saints in our Church.  Who are the saints?  And why are they essential to our faith?

First, the saints are manifestations of the glory and the holiness of God.  In his homily during the Canonization Mass, Pope Francis defines a saint as “a luminous reflection of the Lord of history.” Every saint, indeed, reveals the glory and the holiness of God.  We are all created in the image and likeness of God.  But nowhere does this image closely resemble God than in a saint.  In one of his lectures, St. Titus emphasized how the awareness that God is manifested through us could affect how we live our lives.  He said, “God wishes to be seen and to be known.  Nowhere is God to be known better than in the very depth of our being.  If the thought about God’s indwelling, about the total dependence of all human nature on God, on God’s guidance and revelation, was alive in everything, we would act quite differently and would adjust our behavior to be in tune with God’s revelation.”

Second, the saints are manifestations of the Church.  As the saints reveal the glory and holiness of God, they also manifest in a unique way the holiness of the Church.  The Church is holy because she came fr