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Alfredo María Obviar y Aranda (29 August 1889 – 1 October 1978) was a Filipino people prelate of the Catholic Church and the founder of the Congregation of the Missionary Catechists of Saint Thérèse of the Infant Jesus. He was Bishop of Lucena until his death. His beatification process was opened in 2001 and Obviar was declared The Venerable by Pope Francis in 2018.
Obviar received his early religious instruction at the college of St. Francis Xavier in Manila run by the Society of Jesus, where he graduated in 1901. He earned his degree in Bachelor of Arts at Ateneo de Manila in 1914, and proceeded to the University of Santo Tomas Pontifical Seminary for his theological studies.
Obviar received the sacerdotal ordination on 15 March 1919. His pastoral ministry began that same year at Luta (now Malvar, Batangas) and he continued as vicar of the cathedral-parish in Lipa from 1927 to 1944. In both parishes, he established catechetical centers in the poblacion and the . He was also Vicar General for the Diocese of Lipa, and was appointed confessor and chaplain of the Carmelite monastery of Lipa.
On 22 January 1951, Obviar was installed as Apostolic administrator of the new Diocese of Lucena. Motivated by his great work for catechesis, he founded the Missionary Catechists of St. Therese (MCST) on August 12, 1958. Tubeza, Philip C., "Retired Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales to make a saint", Philippine Daily Inquirer, October 16, 2011 He established the Missionary Catechists of Saint Thérèse of the Infant Jesus (MCST), with the help of Mother Mercy Medenilla, who became the first superior of the MCST, and has four other women. The earliest monastic MCST was founded in San Narciso, Quezon.
To compensate for the shortage of priests in the new diocese, Obviar also founded the Our Lady of the Most Holy Seminary which was later renamed as Our Lady of Mount Carmel Seminary, a minor seminary in Sariaya, Quezon. Decades after, a major seminary was founded by the Diocese of Lucena re-institutionalizing the name Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Seminary. The establishment of this increased the number of priests attending from 1951 to 1975. In the year of his retirement, it had increased by more than 100 priests. Obviar ordained Ricardo Vidal to the priesthood on St. Patrick's Day, 17 March 1956, in Lucena; Vidal would later become a cardinal and Archbishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Cebu.
From 11 October 1962 to 8 December 1962, Obviar was a Council Father at the first session of the Second Vatican Council.
After more than 18 years as administrator, Obviar was declared the first diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Lucena on July 15, 1969. He served as Bishop of Lucena until his retirement in 1976. Patinio, Ferdinand. "Bishops laud Pope declaration of Obviar as 'venerable'", Philippine News Agency, November 9, 2018
Religious life
On March 11, 1944, Obviar was appointed the first auxiliary bishop of Lipa and titular bishop of Linoë, Turkey. "Bishop Alfredo Maria Obviar y Aranda", Catholic Hierarchy He was subsequently ordained to the episcopate on 29 June 1944, with the Apostolic delegate to the Philippines, Archbishop Guglielmo Piani, as principal consecrator, with Pedro Paulo Santos, Bishop of Caceres, and César Ma. Guerrero, auxiliary bishop of Manila as co-consecrators.
Death
Obviar died at the age of 89, in Lucena, Quezon, on 1 October 1978, Kosloski, Philip. "Three Filipino Bishops on the Road to Canonization", Aleteia, January 2, 2018 on the feast of his patron saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus.
Beatification process
The beatification process was opened in 2001, Obviar was declared Servant of God in 2005. Pope Francis named him as venerable on 7 November 2018. "Pope Francis declares Bishop Alfredo Obviar a 'venerable'", GMA News Online, November 8, 2018
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