Please Pray For:

Most Rev. Jesus J. Sison
May 6, 1918 - March 26, 2004
Requiescat in pace.

His Excellency, Most Reverend Jesus J. Sison was born on May 6, 1918 in Bautista, Pangsinan, Philippines. He completed his theological studies at the University of Santo Tomas, Manila and was ordained in 1941. He became the pastor of Bonuan, Pangasinan in 1943 and was named bishop of the newly erected diocese of Tarlac in 1963. During his tenure as bishop, he worked tirelessly to improve the Catholic education of his flock. After his retirement in 1988, he moved to America.

Our community became acquainted with His Excellency in 2000, at which time he visited us and administered the Sacrament of Comfirmation. During his stay with us he also offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in our chapel. He loved the Tridentine Mass and Liturgy, which he offered every day. He was a close friend of ours and stayed in touch regularly until he passed away in 2004. Please remember him in your prayers.

Most Rev. Pascal S. Hardjasoemarta, M.S.C.
March 31, 1929 - May 23, 1999
Requiescat in pace.

In your charity please remember a friend of our community, Bishop Pascal Hardjasoemarta. He passed away after heart surgery. He was the ordinary of Purwokerto in Indonesia at the time of his death.

Bishop Hardjasoemarta was from a Catholic family. He joined the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (M.S.C.) and spent years away from his family in Indonesia while he prepared for the priesthood in the Netherlands. He was ordained in 1956 and eventually was sent back to his native land. In 1974 he was consecrated a bishop.

He became a supporter of our community after learning about our struggle to maintain the traditional Latin Mass and the true and authentic Catholic teaching concerning faith and morals. In 1996, while returning to Indonesia from his "ad limina" visit to Rome, he travelled here to Colorado Springs and administered the Sacrament of Confirmation in the traditional rite to our faithful who needed it. Through contact with us he celebrated the traditional Latin Mass. At that time he offered to establish our community in his diocese and provide us with a religious institution. We were not able to accede to his request because of our apostolate here.

We mourn the loss of this successor of the Apostles who was a real father to us and our faithful during these trying times.

Most Rev. Antonino Nepomuceno, O. M. I.
June 13, 1925 - February 14, 1997
Requiescat in pace.

Please also remember Bishop Antonino Nepomuceno in your prayers. Bishop Nepomuceno was also a friend of our community and supported us in our efforts to preserve and to propagate the traditional Latin Mass and authentic Catholic doctrine.

Bishop Nepomuceno was born to Faustino Nepomuceno and Ester Francisco in the Philippines on June 13, 1925, the seventh of twelve children. In 1941, he entered the San Jose Seminary but World War II interrupted his studies. He later joined the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and on March 24, 1947 was sent to St. Peter’s Novitiate in Mission, Texas. After finishing his Philosophy and Theology in San Antonio, Texas he was ordained a priest on May 23, 1953. He was the fifth Filipino Oblate ordained after the order began to work in the Philippines in 1939. He remained a year in the United States before being sent back to his native country. On August 31, 1969 he was consecrated a bishop and made Auxiliary of Cotabato diocese, located on the second largest island in the southern Philippines.

Often Bishop Nepomuceno would visit the United States to visit relatives and his religious community in Texas. During one of those visits, he reported on the importance in giving the faithful of his diocese solid Christian instruction "to help them recognize and stop any communist infiltration in the Philippines. He said they should know about the tactics of communism and Mao Tse-Tung".

In reporting on the Catholic population in Cotabato, Bishop Nepomuceno said that "the majority of the people were Moslems before the Oblates came to the diocese in 1939. Since World War II and the liberation of the islands from the Japanese, about one-half of the diocese is Catholic".

During one of his visits to our country we were happy to receive him. One of our priests had studied at the Oblate seminary in San Antonio, Texas and he and Bishop Nepomuceno shared stories of mutual acquaintances. We spoke to him openly of our struggles on behalf of the true Faith and the traditional Latin Mass. We were gratified to have found a bishop sympathetic and willing to assist us in any way he could. He wanted to administer here, using the traditional rite, the sacraments of Holy Orders and Confirmation whenever that would be possible. Unfortunately, before he was able to fulfill his desire to help us, he died tragically in a plane crash on February 14, 1997 in the Philippines. Bishop Nepomuceno’s plane had just taken off when gunfire was reportedly heard and the plane carrying him and three others went down. He was returning from the funeral of another Oblate Filipino bishop who had been shot and killed ten days earlier.

Although deprived of his aid and comfort in dispensing the sacraments here in our chapel we were consoled to know another successor of the Apostles who was a moral support to us in these trying times. We remember him in our Masses and prayers and ask you to please keep him in yours as well.