Socrates Villegas

The Most Reverend Socrates B. Villegas D.D.
Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan
File:Socvillegas9jf.JPG
Province	Lingayen-Dagupan
See	Lingayen-Dagupan
Installed	November 4, 2009
Predecessor	Oscar V. Cruz
Successor	Incumbent
Other posts	Bishop of Balanga President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines Auxiliary Bishop of Manila
Orders
Ordination	October 5, 1985
Consecration	August 31, 2001
Personal details
Birth name	Socrates Villegas
Born	(1960-09-28) September 28, 1960 Manila, Philippines
Nationality	Filipino
Motto	"PAX(Peace)"
Coat of arms	Socrates B. Villegas's coat of arms

Socrates Buenaventura Villegas, D.D. (born September 28, 1960), is a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines. He is the current Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan in Pangasinan, and from 2013, President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines

Biography

Socrates B. Villegas is the youngest of the three children of Norma Jacinta Buenaventura and the late Emiliano Villegas. He attended primary education in Pateros, Metro Manila, his hometown, and finished secondary education at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Manila. He studied for the priesthood and received his degree of Master of Arts in Theological Studies at San Carlos Seminary in Guadalupe, Makati City. Ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Jaime Sin on October 5, 1985 at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Manila, he served as personal secretary of the Archbishop from his ordination until 2004. While keeping this post, he also served as rector of the EDSA Shrine and Vicar general of the archdiocese.

Pope John Paul II appointed him auxiliary bishop of Manila on July 25, 2001. He was consecrated by Jaime Cardinal Sin on August 31, 2001.

He was installed as the third Bishop of Balanga on July 3, 2004 and convoked the First Diocesan Synod in 2006. He also founded the St. Joseph's College of Balanga.

On September 8, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan.

Activity

Archbishop Villegas is currently the Chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Catholic Education of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines and President of the Asia-Oceania Mariological Society.

Pope Benedict XVI appointed him member of the Presidential Committee of the Pontifical Council for the Family on September 30, 2009.

He has written and published six books of homilies and spiritual reflections. He was awarded the 1994 Catholic Authors’ Award and the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) of the Philippines in the year 2000. The Bataan Peninsula State University bestowed on him the Degree of Doctor of Humanities honoris causa in recognition and appreciation of his work for the province of Bataan.

He is a member of the Secular Franciscan Order (OFS), the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. He was the Chief Executive Officer of the Tenth World Youth Day held in Manila in 1995 and the Fourth World Meeting of Families in 2002.

In August 2005 Villegas told Fillipino Catholics that they "cannot participate in any way or even attend religious or legal ceremonies that celebrate and legitimize homosexual unions".

Coat of arms

Styles of Socrates Villegas
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Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Archbishop
Posthumous style	not applicable

The two sides of the coat of arms are divided by a TAU cross in the middle. The right side is the personal seal of the Archbishop. The left side is the seal of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan.

External links

• Listing in Catholic Hierarchy website
• website Manila Archdiocese
• Explanation coat of arms

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Honesto F. Ongtioco	Bishop of Balanga 2004–2009	Succeeded by Ruperto Cruz Santos
Preceded by Oscar V. Cruz	Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan 2009–present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Jose S. Palma	CBCP President 2013–present	Succeeded by Incumbent