Sandigang Kasaysayan: IN MEMORIAM – BISHOP MANUEL P. DEL ROSARIO, D.D. (March 23, 2023)

IN MEMORIAM

Today marks the 14th anniversary of Most Rev. Manuel P. Del Rosario, D.D., the First Bishop of the Diocese of Malolos.

Bishop Del Rosario became known as one of the bishops who performed during the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965.

He was also recognized for promoting the first foundations of the Diocese when he was installed as the first bishop on March 11, 1962. He was the first to invite various religious and religious groups to the diocese. Famous among these is the monastery of the Holy Family of Carmelite monks in Guiguinto, Bulacan.

He is also the founder of the Minor Seminary of Inmaculada Concepcion which was temporarily placed in the convent of the Diocesan Shrine and Parish of Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion in Bulakan, Bulacan in 1962 before it was moved to its current location in Tabe, Guiguinto, Bulacan in 1965.

The land where the new building of the minor seminary was built became the current Immaculate Conception Seminary Complex. The monastery of the Carmelite monks, and Seminary Mayor of Inmacualda Concepcion, the Diocesan Formation Center, and the Bahay Pangarap Women's Center Foundation, Inc. were also later built here.

Bishop Del Rosario retired in 1977 and was succeeded by Bishop Cirilo R. Almario, Jr. who was then Bishop Coadjutor and Apostolic Administrator 'Sede plena' of Malolos. He retired from the minor seminary from that year until 2009 when he passed away.

One of the special celebrations that took place to honor the First Bishop was the Grand Anniversary of his episcopate on July 25, 2005 held at the Malolos Cathedral. Few bishops in the Philippines in history have celebrated the 50th year of being a bishop.

Reference:
Diocese of Malolos. Basilica Minore: Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, Diocese of Malolos. Malolos: Diocese of Malolos, 1999.

_____. Christi Fidelium: The 60th Anniversary of the Diocese of Malolos. Malolos: Diocese of Malolos, 2022.

Madriaga, Mariano "The Coat of Arms of Bishop Manuel P. Del Rosario". Boletin Ecclesiastico de Filipinas, Volume 29, year XXXIII, number 327 (September 1955): 22.

Bro. Kendrick Ivan Panganiban, S.Th.L., DCSC Research Team