On November 8, 1984, with the Apostolic Letter, Properamus Nos, Pope St. John Paul II formally broke up the ecclesiastical territory of the Diocese of Agana and formed a new diocese in the Commonwealth of Northern Marianas and called it Diocese of Chalan Kanoa.
This coming Friday, Bishop Ryan P. Jimenez and the whole Northern Marianas will celebrate the 35th year anniversary of the establishment of this local Church.
Since after the Second World War, the parishes in the CNMI were considered a vicariate of the Diocese of Agana. But with the growing Catholic population both in Guam and CNMI, the Holy See decided to separate the Northern Vicariate from the ecclesiastical territory of Agana and created a new diocese. This move may have also been the fruit of the historic visit to Guam by John Paul II on February 1981.
Following the Apostolic Letter was the official appointment of then Msgr. Tomas A. Camacho as the first bishop of the new diocese. Until then, Camacho served in Saipan as Episcopal Vicar to the Northern Marianas of then Archbishop Felixberto Flores. Bishop Emeritus Camacho retired as bishop on April 2010 and he died on March 5, 2018.
Bishop Ryan, the second bishop of Chalan Kanoa, called for the celebration for this occasion as a moment to pause and reflect on the growth and the journey of faith of the Church in CNMI. The Mass of Thanksgiving is scheduled this coming Friday, at 6 pm at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Cathedral. “As a way of thanking the Archdiocese of Agana and our continuing relationship as a suffragan, I have invited Reverend Father Jeff San Nicolas to be the homilist for this Eucharistic celebration”, says Bishop Ryan. Fr. Jeff San Nicolas is currently the vicar general of the Guam.
In order that all the faithful in the diocese may be able to come and participate in this celebration, all evening Masses on Friday will be cancelled. In particular Bishop Ryan invited the catechists in the parishes to be present. “I encourage high school students, especially confirmation candidates, juniors, seniors, faculty, and staff of Mount Carmel School (MCS) to attend this celebration. Representatives from Eskuelan San Francisco de Borja, KARIDAT, religious sisters, Church organizations are also encouraged to attend this Mass.”
