Bishop of Balanga: Difference between revisions

 

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<!—- Locations —->

<!—- Locations —->

| country = [[Philippines]]

| country = [[Philippines]]

| province = [[Archdiocese of San Fernando#Suffragan dioceses and bishops|Ecclesiastical Province of San Fernando|San Fernando]]

| province = [[Archdiocese of San Fernando#Suffragan dioceses and bishops|San Fernando]]

| residence = Bishop’s Residence, 41 Paterno Street, Poblacion, [[Balanga, Bataan|Balanga]], [[Bataan]]

| residence = Bishop’s Residence, 41 Paterno Street, Poblacion, [[Balanga, Bataan|Balanga]], [[Bataan]]

<!—- Information —->

<!—- Information —->

The Roman Catholic Bishop of Balanga is the head of the Diocese of Balanga having jurisdiction over the province of Bataan.^[1]

Since March 1, 2025, the current bishop is Rufino Sescon, succeeding Ruperto Santos who became Bishop of Antipolo covering Markina, Metro Manila and the province of Rizal.

The diocese was established by Pope Paul VI on March 17, 1975. Three months after its establishment, he appointed Celso Guevarra as the diocese’s first bishop on June 4, 1975. At those times, Bataan was still under the jurisdiction of Archdiocese of San Fernando, Pampanga. Guevarra became bishop on his installation in November 8, 1975, establishing the position and separated the province from an archdiocese.

Celso Guevarra was the longest to serve the position at 23 years from November 8, 1975 upon his retirement on June 18, 1998 where he was succeeded by Honesto Ongtioco as second bishop, serving until became Bishop of Cubao in Quezon City, Metro Manila on August 28, 2003, making the diocese having Bishop of Balanga continuously for 28 years.

On the other hand, the longest-living serving bishop and second overall of the diocese is Ruperto Santos, who was the priest of the Archdiocese of Manila and concurrently rector of Pontifical Filipino College in Rome, Italy for 27 and 11 years, respectively, from September 10, 1983 until his installation into office as fourth bishop on July 8, 2010 three months after his start of overall position tenure upon appointment by Pope Benedict XVI on April 1, 2010, the Holy Week, Holy Triduum, and Holy Thursday of 2010, since October 2015 at 13 years, 3 months, 21 days (4,860 days) from April 1, 2010 to July 22, 2023 with office at the said date of July 2010. He served the position at all years of Catholic Church involvement over his appointer from April 2010 to his funeral as pope-emeritus on January 5, 2023, 6 months and 17 days before stepping down as the diocese’s bishop, and two deaths and wakes, and one funeral of sede vacante diocesan administrators Victor Ocampo and Antonio Dumaual from March 16 to July 22, 2023. However, the wake and funeral of Dumaual from July 22 to 31, 2023 is when Santos was already Bishop of Antipolo and under temporary bishopric of the diocese as apostolic administrator of Florentino Lavarias, Archbishop of San Fernando since October 27, 2014.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]}

Since 2025, the diocese has 49 parishes, 11 schools, 863,610 Catholics, and 66 priests, all within in its jurisdiction Bataan.

No.	Portrait	Name	Period in Position	Duration	Coat of Arms
1		Celso Nogoy Guevarra 1923–2002 (52 / 75)	November 8, 1975–June 18, 1998	22 years, 7 months, 4 days (8,258 days)
2		Honesto Flores “Ness” Ongtioco 1948– (49 / 54)	June 18, 1998–August 28, 2003	5 years, 2 months, 10 days (1,897 days)
3		Socrates Buenaventura “Soc” Villegas 1960– (43 / 49)	May 3, 2004–November 4, 2009 (Installed into office: July 3, 2004)	5 years, 6 months, 1 day (2,011 days)
4		Ruperto Cruz “Stude” Santos 1957– (52 / 65)	April 1, 2010–July 22, 2023 (Installed into office: July 8, 2010)	13 years, 3 months, 21 days (4,860 days)
5		Rufino Coronel “Jun” Sescon Jr. 1972– (52 / )	March 1, 2025–present