Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, archbishop emeritus of Manila, on Oct. 8, celebrated his 50th episcopal anniversary during a Thanksgiving Mass at St. Francis de Sales Theological Seminary in Lipa City in the province of Batangas, according to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) News.
Gaudencio, 92, is the third oldest cardinal in Asia. The oldest is Cardinal Michael Mitchai Kitbunchu, archbishop emeritus of Bangkok, followed by Cardinal Joseph Zen, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong.
Gaudencio is one of the longest-serving priests in the Philippines.
In 2011, Rosales and the Pondo ng Pinoy Community Foundation were given the 2017 Saint John Paul II Award by the Catholic Mass Media Awards.
Some bishops, priests, consecrated persons, and laypeople gathered in gratitude for his faithful service to God and the community.
At 92 years old, Rosales is the third-oldest cardinal in Asia.
He was ordained priest at the Archdiocese of Lipa on March 23, 1958.
“We look back 50 years ago when our beloved then Fr. Dency became a successor to the apostles,” said Archbishop Ramon Arguelles, emeritus of Lipa, during the golden celebration.
He added, “We rejoice with him, thanking God for one important Batangeño who has been called not only as a bishop and archbishop but also as a prince of the Church.”
Only after 17 years as a priest, Rosales was appointed auxiliary bishop of Manila, serving for six years before he was transferred to the Diocese of Malaybalay in the southern Philippines in 1982.
Rosales considered his stint in Bukidnon to be one of the “difficult” moments of his life because the place was ridden with conflict and violence. “So many killings… almost every day,” he said in his homily.
But he was able to use the learnings there when he was appointed archbishop of his home archdiocese of Lipa in 1992.
When he turned 72, Rosales was appointed Archbishop of Manila.
“God has been good to me and, above all, to people… God has no other purpose than to make us holy,” said Rosales of his 50th episcopal anniversary.
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