Socrates Villegas installed Bishop of Manila by Ca

Bishop-elect Socrates Villegas was installed yesterday Bishop of Manila during rites at the Manila Cathedral, by Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin.

The homily during the Mass was delivered by Sin, who also celebrated his 73rd birthday yesterday.

The celebration was also attended by President Arroyo, former President Corazon Aquino, Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, bishops of the country, priests, religious sisters and brothers, government officials, movie and television celebrities and thousands of Catholic faithful. Also present was Villegas’ mother, Norma.

Sin recalled the day when one of the parents of Villegas asked him to take care of their son, whom they fondly called Soc.

In his homily, Sin said that just before Villegas’ father Emiliano died, he "wanted to entrust his son to my charge. That he wanted me to be like Soc’s father, after he was gone."

Sin continued that he also wanted to tell Mrs. Norma Villegas, Soc’s mother, and his father who passed away, "that I have tried to fulfill the task his father gave me before he left this world, as well as I could."

"And with joy abounding, I want to tell Tatay Emiliano and Nanay Norma, how wonderful a son their Soc has been to me, all these years of faithful and loving service (to the Church)," Sin said.

Villegas is also the spokesperson of Sin.

Sin said that Villegas has always sought peace to share with the people. He noted that such peace "is the peace which Jesus says, only He can give."

Villegas, on the other hand, who has already served the Archdiocese of Manila and Sin for 16 years, said he has seen in the Cardinal a "great man of faith, of joy, and zealous service."

"That faith is still there, that inner joy I can still see, and that zest for service still inspires me but this time, it is mixed with so much suffering. Your Eminence, you are a true servant of the Church," Villegas said in his speech after being ordained.

"With my eyes, I captured your life. With your life, you captured my heart. You suffer for us, because of us, instead of us," Villegas said, as he thanked him and several other people who helped him fulfill his dreams of being bishop.

Though, Villegas, humbly told all his friends in the vocation, "I am and will always be Soc for you."

The teary-eyed Villegas hugged Sin, as well as other friends and family members, during his installation.

He also thanked his fellow residents in Pateros, his classmates in Letran, and his brothers in the San Carlos Seminary.

"I promise to translate my utang na loob to all of you by working for peace," Villegas said, one of the youngest bishops in the country.

"I will make peace through dialogue. I do not believe in peace without justice. I will make peace through love. I do not believe in peace without repentance. I will make peace through prayer. I do not believe in peace without you," said Villegas.

He said that in a culture obsessed with power, popularity and promotion, peace cannot thrive. In a Church where uniformity is mistaken for unity, where gossip prevails over dialogue and rituals are devoid of sacrifice, peace cannot be born.

In a society where people get rich without work and commerce is conducted without morality, peace cannot survive, he said.

In a school where knowledge is separated from character and science is learned divorced from humanity, peace becomes the victim, he also said.

"In my life, may the world receive the peace of Jesus. Let my life be for peace. When I die for if they kill me as they killed Jesus, may the world receive new peace in sacrifice," Villegas said.