TACLOBAN CITY – The town of Palapag in Northern Samar is preparing to welcome Vatican Ambassador to the Philippines and dean of the diplomatic corps, Most Rev. Charles John Brown, next month.
The Papal Nuncio’s visit is part of the 50th-anniversary celebration of the Diocese of Catarman.
Palapag, the oldest town in Northern Samar, was chosen as a key destination due to its historic significance as the center of Christianization in the province during the Spanish era. Jesuit missionaries established a mission residence in the town between 1599 and 1605.
To prepare for the visit, the municipal government of Palapag, led by Mayor Florence Batula, held a joint coordination meeting on February 17 at the Legislative Hall.
The meeting included representatives from the provincial government of Northern Samar, represented by Carl Jaime Simple Bordeos of the Provincial Planning and Development Office, and the Diocese of Catarman, represented by Fr. Pio Aquiatan Jr., DSAC director, and Fr. Eduardo Dorico, pastoral director.
The Papal Nuncio will be in Northern Samar from March 9 to 11, with his visit to Palapag scheduled for March 10.
This will be his second visit to the province this year; he was previously in Northern Samar on January 15 for the installation of Bishop Nolly Buco as the third bishop of the diocese.
The Diocese of Catarman was established on December 5, 1974, by decree of Pope Paul VI, with Bishop Angel Hobayan as its first bishop.
It falls under the ecclesiastical province of the Archdiocese of Palo and comprises 31 parishes across 24 municipalities, with its mother church, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Annunciation, located in Catarman, the provincial capital.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
