To
commemorate the centenary of Bishop Jorge Imperial Barlin's episcopal ordination
(1906-2006) the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines issued this
Pastoral Letter:
BONUS MILES CHRISTI
One
hundred years ago, in 1906, the grace of the Episcopacy was granted to the
Filipino people in the person of a Bicolano born in Baao, Camarines Sur, Jorge
Barlin, who took as his Episcopal motto: "Bonus miles Christi" -- A
Good Soldier of Christ. It was the first time after three hundred years of
Christianity in the Philippines that a Filipino was given such a
dignity—certainly, a milestone in the Philippine Church History, an event worth
remembering and celebrating....
