Oldest Philippines bishop dies

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s oldest Catholic bishop, retired bishop Manuel Sobreviñas of Imus Cavite, passed away yesterday, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) announced.  He was 96.

An article posted on the CBCP website said the chancery office of Imus disclosed that Sobreviñas died at the Cardinal Santos Hospital in San Juan City at around 12:45 p.m. yesterday.

Sobreviñas was born in Bataan province. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Manila in 1951 and was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Manila in 1979, a position he served until 1993.

He was appointed as the third bishop of Imus in 1993. He retired in October 2001 at the age of 77.