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Rufino Sescon
Filipino Catholic prelate (born 1972) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Rufino "Jun" Coronel Sescon Jr. OP (born April 20, 1972) is a Filipino prelate of the Catholic Church and a professed member of the Priestly Fraternity of the St. Dominic. He is the Bishop of Balanga, having been appointed by Pope Francis in 2024.
Ordained to the priesthood in 1998, Sescon served as the personal secretary of then-Manila Archbishop Cardinal Jaime Sin. He eventually rose to become one of the Philippines' most prominent preachers throughout his tenure as rector of Quiapo Church.[2] He is also the executive director of the Catholic Mass Media Awards and a member of the Presbyteral Council of the Archdiocese of Manila.[3]
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Early life and education
Rufino Coronel Sescon Jr. was born on April 20, 1972, in Manila, Philippines.[4] He was baptized by then Rev. Fr. Ramon Arguelles (currently as the Archbishop-Emeritus of Lipa) at San Jose de Navotas Parish on May 6, 1972. An alumnus of Colegio de San Juan de Letran,[2] he then studied philosophy and theology in San Carlos Seminary, where he obtained master's degrees in both disciplines.[4]
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Diaconate and priesthood
Sescon was ordained to the diaconate on March 21, 1998, by Cardinal Jaime Sin, then-archbishop of Manila. He was then subsequently assigned as the parish deacon of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish Church in Santa Mesa, Manila, as well as the financial officer of the Sta. Mesa Parochial School, now known as the Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic School.[5]
On September 19, 1998, Sescon was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Sin.[6] He then served as Sin's assistant secretary, and later, his personal secretary from 2001 (when Socrates Villegas, Sin's former secretary, became auxiliary bishop of Manila) until his death in 2005.[7] In 2005, he was named chaplain of the Santo Niño de Paz Greenbelt Chapel in Makati.[2] He also served as chancellor of the Archdiocese of Manila from 2008 to 2015, as well as the administrator of the Archbishop's Palace (Cardinal Sin's former residence) in Villa San Miguel, Mandaluyong.[8] In 2013, he was appointed as the first priest-in-charge (chaplain) of Mary Mother of Hope Chapel at Landmark Makati. His chaplaincy at both Greenbelt and Landmark Chapels ended in 2022.[9]
On September 28, 2020, he joined the Priestly Fraternities of St. Dominic, a society of apostolic life under the Order of Preachers.[10][11]
His last pastoral assignment as priest was at Quiapo Church, when he was appointed by Cardinal Jose Advincula as its rector and parish priest in 2022.[9] He also served as a member of the archdiocese's presbyteral council and as the episcopal vicar for the city of Manila.[5][6][9]
Sescon was instrumental in elevating Quiapo Church as a national shrine in a process that took five months from the start of its application in February 2023 to the approval of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in July.[8][12] Under his pastoral leadership, the Feast of Jesús Nazareno, once a parochial feast in Quiapo, was celebrated in all Philippine dioceses for the first time in 2025.[13][14]
Episcopate
On December 3, 2024, Pope Francis appointed Sescon as the fifth Bishop of Balanga, succeeding Ruperto Santos, who vacated the diocese in July 2023 to lead the Diocese of Antipolo.[7] His episcopal ordination took place on February 25, 2025—the 39th anniversary of the People Power Revolution—at the Manila Cathedral. Archbishop Socrates Villegas, together with bishops Ruperto Santos and Honesto Ongtioco as co-consecrators, ordained Sescon to the episcopate. All of his consecrators were former bishops of Balanga. Meanwhile, Cardinal Advincula delivered the homily.[15][16]
During his ordination, Sescon received the crozier from Villegas, who inherited it from Cardinal Sin. This crozier was also used by José María Cuenco, then-Archbishop of Jaro.[2]
Sescon chose to be ordained on the People Power Revolution anniversary as a "form of prayer for generosity" to "never forget" the spirit of the revolution. According to him, the spirit continues because of the people's faith that impels them to be generous and become the "conscience of society." He described the 1986 uprising as not only of "people power," but of "prayer power." Sescon also said:[17]
When genuine faith, patriotism, selflessness, the common good, and unity— genuine unity—pervade among us against tyranny, dishonesty, corruption, and injustice, miracles will happen.
Sescon was formally installed as the fifth Bishop of Balanga on March 1, 2025, at the Cathedral-Shrine of Saint Joseph in Balanga, Bataan. He was installed by Archbishop Charles John Brown, the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, in the presence of Archbishop of San Fernando Florentino Lavarias (who served as Apostolic Administrator of the diocese prior to his installation), his consecrator Archbishop Villegas (who gave the homily), Cardinals Advincula and Pablo Virgilio David (Bishop of Kalookan and CBCP President), and government officials of the province of Bataan.[18]
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Notes
- From Romans 4:16 and St. Thérèse of Lisieux, "Everything is a Grace"[1]
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