IN DEEP THOUGHT. Bishop Mallari during the High Mass in celebration of the 440th anniversary of the St. Augustine parish in Lubao, marking the start of Christianity in Pampanga. Photo by Bong Z. Lacson
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The Catholic faithful of Pampanga has reasons to rejoice – Pope Benedict XVI has appointed San Fernando Auxiliary Bishop Roberto Mallari to head the Diocese of San Jose in Nueva Ecija.
“We rejoice at the news of Among Bobet’s appointment even as we join him in prayer of thanksgiving for this grace the Lord bestowed upon him and the people of San Jose,” said Ronaldo Tiotuico, president of the Mother of Good Counsel Seminary Alumni Association. Mallari finished his high school in the said seminary.
“His (Mallari’s) quiet holiness – so reminiscent of our beloved Apu Ceto (San Fernando Archbishop Paciano B. Aniceto) – is truly a blessing in his new ministry,” added Tiotuico, who is also the Central Luzon director of the Department of Tourism.
Mallari, 54, will assume the seat left vacant by Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara, who was transferred to the Diocese of Pasig in April 2011.
According to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, Mallari’s appointment was officially announced in Rome on Tuesday and relayed to the media by Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Guiseppe Pinto through the Media Office of the CBCP.
“I write to inform you that the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI has appointed His Excellency Most Rev. Roberto C. Mallari, until now Auxiliary Bishop of San Fernando as Bishop of San Jose,” Pinto said in his letter to Msgr. Pedro Quitorio, CBCP Media Director.
The Diocese of San Jose covers a land area of 2,540 square kilometres and a Catholic population of around 665, 715 spread in 16 parishes.
Born in Masantol, Pampanga on March 27, 1958, Mallari took up Arts and Letters at the University of Sto. Tomas (1974-1975), Philosophy at the San Carlos Seminary (1975-1978) and Theology in the same seminary (1978-1982).
He was ordained a priest by Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz on Nov. 27, 1982. His first assignment was as associate pastor of San Vicente de Ferrer Parish in Calulut, City of San Fernando.
Mallari also served as spiritual director and philosophy director at the Mother of Good Counsel Seminary.
On January 14, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI named Mallari as Auxiliary Bishop of San Fernando with his episcopal ordination held on March 27, 2006.
He is currently the vice chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines – Episcopal Commission on Family and Life which is at the vanguard of the Church’s campaign against the controversial reproductive health bill.
Mallari’s installation as the new bishop of San Jose is scheduled on July 16.
