25/04/2024
BONUS MILES CHRISTI
Today we commemorate the 174th Anniversary of the Birth of +Most Rev. Jorge Imperial Barlin, DD, the 28th Bishop of Caceres. He is the first Priest of Caceres to have been ordained a Bishop, and the First Filipino.
Bishop Barlin was born in Baao, Ambos Camarines on 23 April 1850, and was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Francisco Gainza, OP in 1874. As a priest, he served as Capellan de Solio of the Cathedral, Parish Priest of Siruma, Parish Priest of Libong in Albay, Parish Priest of Sorsogon, and Vicar Forane of the entire Sorsogon Province.
He was instrumental in stopping the rise of the schismatic Philippine Independent Church, also known as the Aglipayan Church. In 1902, Fr. Gregorio Aglipay offered him the supreme prelacy of the new Independent Church. Fr. Barlin denied such offer, telling Aglipay: “Prefiero ser lampazero a ser la cabeza de su jerarquia cismatica.” (I prefer to be a sweeper than to be the head of your schismatic hierarchy.)
When many Filipino priests had defected to the Aglipayan Church, commanded the support of their parishioners, and refused to vacate their churches, it was Fr. Barlin who gave the most damaging blow to the new sect. In 1906, when a Fr. Ramirez, refused to vacate the Parish in Lagonoy, Barlin, who was then-Apostolic Administrator of Caceres, won the case against Ramirez in the Supreme Court. This forced Ramirez and other Aglipayan priests in the country to vacate their churches and lose the support of their congregation. Had he lost the case, many churches would have remained occupied by the Aglipayans and many would have remained in the sect.
In view of the foregoing, Barlin was named the twenty-eighth Bishop of Caceres in a secret consistory on 14 December 1905. He was ordained to the Episcopate on 29 June 1906 at the Manila Cathedral, becoming the First Filipino Bishop. His Episcopal Motto was “Bonus Miles Christi” (A Good Soldier of Christ).
As the First Filipino Bishop, he was given the honor of delivering the invocation at the inaugural session of the Philippine Assembly in 16 October 1906. Two months later, he took a prominent part in the deliberations of the First Provincial Council of Manila, which was convened to discuss Church problems under the new American Government setup.
As Bishop of Caceres, his administration of the Diocese resembled that of his mentor, Bishop Gainza. In the book “Bikol Annals,” his tenure is described as “in him shone a faithful loyalty to the authorities of the Church and the teachings and dispositions emanating from Rome. He distinguished himself in the zeal, prudence and abnegation of his conduct in the apostolic offices as missionary, parish priest, vicar and bishop as proven by his whole life.”
In 1909, he was stricken with an ailment which caused him to feel an increasing general malaise and loss of weight, which required medical treatment abroad. In July of the same year, he arrived in Rome to make an Ad Limina visit to the Holy Father. Immediately upon his arrival, he was laid on bed at the convent of the Spanish Dominicans for his ailment had worsened. There, he succumbed to his illness on 04 September of the same year, and was interred at the Dominican Mausoleum in Campo Verano, Rome, Italy. Up to this day, attempts to identify his remains and bring them home to the Philippines have been made, but to no avail.
Today, 174 years after his birth, Caceres prepares to welcome a new Bishop who, like Barlin, also came from the Clergy of Caceres. We also look forward to the Episcopal Ordination of another Bishop from the Clergy of Caceres this coming June.
[SOURCE] Abella, D. (1954). Bikol Annals: A Collection of Vignettes of Philippine history. (Vol. I. The See of Nueva Cáceres).
[ADMIN’S NOTE] This article was originally published on 23 April 2021, to commemorate the 171st Birth Anniversary of Bishop Barlin. Article written by JC Madrid.
