Brown presides over Mass celebrating inter-Diocesan Diamond Jubilee and UBC closing
By Lilette P. Manauis
NAGA CITY, Philippines, September 17, 2026 — The Archdiocese of Caceres, together with its suffragan dioceses of Legazpi and Sorsogon, celebrates their historic Inter-Diocesan Diamond Jubilee with a solemn thanksgiving Mass at the Naga Metropolitan Cathedral, the event also marks the conclusion of the three-day Union of Bicol Clergy (UBC) 2026.
Most Rev. Charles John Brown, DD, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, presided over the Holy Mass. He was joined by the bishops and clergy of the entire Ecclesiastical Province of Caceres.
Despite the afternoon’s heavy showers, thousands of pilgrims and devotees gathered around the cathedral's Quadricentennial Arch. The liturgy was enhanced by the veneration of the most important religious icons of the occasion – the images of Our Lady of Peñafrancia (Ina), El Divino Rostro, and Saint Peter Baptist.
During his homily, Archbishop Brown praised the enduring faith of Bicolano Catholics, giving value to the idea of a procession and how it “gives us a visual image of what the church is in her nature – people walking together, in which everyone has a vital role. No one is unnecessary, no one is useless. Everyone is valued.”
Encouraging the community to continue journeying together in a synodal spirit and faithfully passing down their deep-seated Marian devotion to future generations, he underscored the role of parents. “It’s not the Nuncio who is the most important in passing the faith, but the parents. The mother and father…they are the most important people in passing the faith on,” he emphasized.
The Nuncio highlighted how parents have an “incredibly important vocation in the church as they have a vital role of passing the faith on to their children.” He echoed that such a role “cannot be replicated or replaced, nor substituted.”
The inter-diocesan milestone goes back to June 29, 1951, when Pope Pius XII issued the papal bull Quo in Philippina Republica. The decree elevated the See of Caceres to a metropolitan archdiocese and concurrently created the twin dioceses of Legazpi and Sorsogon.
Conclusion of the Union of Bicol Clergy 2026
The Jubilee Mass also served as the grand finale for UBC 2026, which ran from September 15 to September 17 at the Holy Rosary Minor Seminary and other local venues in Naga City.
The annual convention gathered together hundreds of priests and church leaders from the region's eight ecclesiastical jurisdictions, including Daet, Masbate, Virac, Libmanan, and the Military Ordinariate. Carried out under the archdiocesan pastoral theme, "Gabos Kaayon, Gabos may Gibúhon" (“Everyone belongs, everyone has a mission”), the three-day event concerted synodal discussions through spiritual conversations, pastoral framework updates, and fraternal sportsfest aimed to strengthen priestly brotherhood.
In his homily, Archbishop Brown stressed how the 75 years of being an archdiocese is such a glorious remembrance and thanksgiving for all consecrated priests. He ushered the priests and faithful alike into a reflection of the importance of priesthood saying that, “the fundamental role of priests is to bring the Eucharist to the people, and to bring the people to the Eucharist.”
He emphasized synodality by using the image of a caravan and likened it to a procession – a procession and how we need to walk in the footsteps of our saints. “Following the people who walk before us, think of your grandparents, the communion of saints, those people are the signposts that lead us to the way of God,” Brown said.
The Nuncio closed his homily with such motivation for all Bicolano priests, religious and lay, saying, “The past is not behind us, but in front of us and we walk after them.”
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