174th Birth Anniversary of Bishop Jorge Barlin – First Filipino Bishop

He was born April 23, 1850, in Baao, Camarines Sur, the Philippines to Mateo Alfonso Barlín and Francisca Imperial.

He was ordained a priest on September 19, 1875, and consecrated a bishop on June 29, 1906, by Archbishop Ambrose Agius along with co-consecrators Archbishop Jeremiah James Harty and Bishop Frederick Zadok Rooker. “Barlín proved very capable and loyal, dealing a blow to the schismatic Iglesia Filipina Independiente by resisting its recruitment efforts and winning a court battle over church property,” according to Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.^[2]

He died and was interred in Rome, Italy in 1909 during an ad limina visit of the Philippine bishops. Attempts to have his body returned to the Philippines were unsuccessful. (Wikipedia)