The first bishop was César María Guerrero, DD, a native of Manila; he received his appointment from the Vatican on May 29, 1949, and was installed on September 8 of the same year.

Bishop Guerrero established the Mater Boni Consilii (now Mother of Good Counsel) Seminary in 1950 (it was originally in Guagua, then Apalit, before being relocated to its present site in San Fernando): the Cruzada de Penitencia y Caridad (or devotion to the Virgen delos Remedios) in 1952, which continues to this day; and Carmelite Monastery in Angeles in 1956, where on March 14, 1957, he retired due to poor health.

Emilio A. Cinense, DD, a native of Guimba, Nueva Ecija, became the second bishop of San Fernando on March 15, 1957.

Ana, Pampanga, former rector of the Mother of Good Counsel Seminary and Bishop of Iba, was appointed third (and first Pampanga-born) Archbishop of San Fernando; he was formally installed on March 14, 1989.

Spanish colonial period (with a few interruptions) and way beyond it, from 1572 all the way to 1960 when they ceded their last parish to local diocesan clergy (although the last Augustinian priest working in the Kapampangan Region died only as recently as 1993).

Here's a brief description of the twenty mission stations (now parishes) founded by the Augustinians in Pampanga; many existed as communities before the Spaniards came.

The first Pampango book ever published, Vida de san Nicolas do tolentino ( 1614), was written by Fray Tallada during his term as pastor.

The first church, built by P. Fray Jose de la Cruz in 1665, was destroyed by the great earthquake of 1880, leaving intact the bell tower.

Torres the construction of a beautiful baño (bath house) at the foot of the mountain about two kilometres from the town proper, which is now still a popular destination.

Originally these Chinese were refugees from persecution by Gen. Simon de Anda, who had accused them of conniving with the British invaders in 1762 and plotting to assassinate the Governor General and some Augustinians.

Chronicler Fray Gaspar de San Agustin wrote; “The church is very beautiful, and it is placed under the advocation of Santa Lucia; the convent is of first class too”.

In 1607, Porac was annexed to Bacolor as a visit; in 1641, the convent was relieved of its obligation to pay rent to Manila, due to extreme poverty.

Fathers Manuel Obregon (1726) and Nicolas Mornier (1735) are credited to have constructed the church, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1863 and restored by Frs.

Ramon Sarrionandia supervised the transfer and gave the town its name, San Pedro de Magalang.

SANTA ANA (1756): As early as 1598, the town (formerly named Pimpin) functioned as visita of Arayat, and it was in 1756 that Augustinians declared it an independent parish with Fr.

Upon the green terrain rises the lone and majestic Mount Arayat on a red background surmounted by the sword and crown of Saint Ferdinand the King.

[2] True to form, Kapampangans make a big fuss over appearances, and don't quite know how to solve the problem of two images of the same Virgen—the officially crowned replica and the sidelined antique original.

Today, however, the original purpose of the crusade—and the Virgin—have long since been forgotten, the fact that the crusade was established to help in the battle against the Communist Hukbalahap in the province in the 1950s.

The Baliti faithful recently began actively promoting its shrine as a pilgrimage site, a la Our Lady of Manaoag in Pangasinan.

In these processions, the image of the Santo Cristo de Perdon accompanies the Virgen—underscoring the belief of Catholics that the Blessed Virgin helps bring Christ even to the most unreachable people.

Guerrero, DD, who immediately identified the most pressing problem of Pampanga as the peasant uprising against the feudal system, fueled by a communist ideology.

Socialist mayors were being elected, including those in Angeles and San Fernando; the sonorous sound of the tambuli was a nightly occurrence, and so were parades of peasants waving red flags.

The crusade officially started on May 1, 1952, or four years after the birth of the diocese, in the San Miguel Arcangel Parish on Masantol, the southernmost town of Pampanga.

However, when it wasn't returned in time for their barrio fiesta, and when talk circulated that the image did not belong to them anymore but to the entire province, their mood turned from gracious, to sour, to indignation.

De la Cruz, then the director of the Kapampangan radio program Ing Siuala nang Maria (The Voice of Mary), recalls that the bishop decided right then and there to have a replica image.

The first replica was thus hastily made by the late Victoriano Siongco of the Catholic Trade Center of San Fernando.

Bishop Guerrero told the priest, “Just pray, Pepe.” On the September 8, 1956, more than 70,000 Kapampangans witnessed the canonical coronation of the replica, performed by the Pope's emissary to the Philippines, Msgr.

It was also around this time that the image of Santo Cristo del Perdon (Crucified Christ, Lord of Pardon) was added to accompany the Virgen.

In 1978 or 1979, San Fernando Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz wanted to solve the problem of the extremely slow pace of the Virgen's provincial rounds.

There was a proposal to have nine new images made so that each of the diocese's nine vicariates (cluster of parishes based on geography) would have its own Virgen.