The Mission Society of the Philippines

Last of two parts

The Fourth Centennial Celebration took place in Cebu City on April 27 - May 2, 1965. To fittingly celebrate the occasion, the Fourth National Eucharistic Congress was held. On the last day, the Papal Legate Ildebrando Cardinal Antoniutti blessed the cornerstone of Fil-Mission Seminary in Tayud, Consolacion, Cebu. It was on the same day that the Papal Legate blessed the cornerstone of the first (wooden) parish church of the Blessed Sacrament Parish, Reclamation Area, Cebu City.

Not long after his arrival in Cebu City, the first priest - volunteer, Father Lito Bongay of the Diocese of Tagbilaran, engaged in promotion work. In the following year, at Bishop Surban’s request, the Maryknoll Fathers in Davao City generously loaned to the Society one of their men to the promotion works on its behalf. To shorten the Society’s name, which he thought was rather long, and makes it catchy and easy to remember, Father John Walsh, MM, coined the word “Fil-Mission” which eventually became the Society’s popular name.

From the beginning until August 7, 1984, the Society was headed by CBCP - appointed National Directors, namely: Bishop Epifanio Surban, D.D., of Dumaguete (1965 - 1977), Bishop Guadencio Rosales, D.D. (1977 - 1982), then an Auxiliary Bishop of Manila in charge of the Ecclesiastical District of Antipolo and the National Director of the Pontifical Missionary Societies (PMS) in the Philippines, Bishop Leoncio Lat (August 1982 - April 1983), at that time Auxuliary Bishop of Malolos and full-time CBCP Secretary General, and Father Gregorio Pizarro, SVD (1983 - 1984), then PMS National Director. On August 7, 1984, the members elected an Interim Superior (Father Edwin de la Pe¤a, now Bishop of Marawi) whose task, with the help of an Ad Hoc Committee, was to prepare the Society’s First General Assembly. With the holding of the first General Assembly (December 4-8, 1984) which ratified a constitution and elected the first Father Moderator (then called Supreme Moderator) and the members of the General Council, the Society has been, since then, on its own.

By the decree of March 26, 1978, the Archbishop of Cebu Julio Cardinal Rosales erected the Society as a Society of Apostolic Life for the mission ad gentes. Since 1989, its principal seat has been in the Archbishop of Manila. And by the decree issued on January 6, 2009 by Ivan Cardinal Dias, the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples declared that henceforth the Mission Society of the Philippines is a Society of Apostolic Life for mission ad gentes of Pontifical Right. It was on January 13, 1970 that the first Fil-Missioners on foreign assignment left for Buddhist Thailand, i.e., Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), Thailand. They were Father Eliseo Echavia of the Diocese of Tagbilaran and Father Pedro Pacuribot of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro. Presently, Fil-Missioners are working in Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, Tokelau, The Cook Islands, United States of America, and The Netherlands.