He was the first Filipino and Bicolano bishop and was parish priest and vicar forane of Sorsogon from 1887 to 1906.

He was ordained a priest on September 19, 1875, and consecrated a bishop on June 29, 1906, by Archbishop Ambrose Agius along with co-consecrators Archbishop Jeremiah James Harty and Bishop Frederick Zadok Rooker.

"Barlín proved very capable and loyal, dealing a blow to the schismatic Iglesia Filipina Independiente by resisting its recruitment efforts and winning a court battle over church property," according to Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.

[2] He died and was interred in Rome, Italy in 1909 during an ad limina visit of the Philippine bishops.

Monuments commemorating Jorge Barlín were built in his hometown's plaza in Baao, Camarines Sur,[3] and another called Plaza Barlin in Naga, Camarines Sur.