As Santa Mónica Parish in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte marks its Tercentennial Year, a special Mass was held Sunday to pray for the eternal repose of Fr. Román Ver, a priest regarded as a hero among Roman Catholics in the once Aglipayan-dominated province.
Fr. Ver, born in 1856 and died in 1925, is remembered for his steadfast loyalty to the Roman Catholic Church during a time of religious upheaval.
In 1902, 17 priests from Ilocos Norte joined Batac native Fr. Gregorio Aglipay in founding the Iglesia Filipina Independiente.
With their defection, the majority of the province’s population followed, and most of Ilocos Norte’s centuries-old churches—except the one in Laoag—became Aglipayan for six years.
Amid the shift, Fr. Ver remained resolute in his commitment to the Catholic faith.
According to local accounts, when the parish priest of Laoag left for Manila to receive his appointment as bishop in the new church, Fr. Ver locked the doors of the convent, arguing that his superior had forfeited his authority by breaking communion with the Catholic Church. That act is credited with keeping the Laoag church under Roman Catholic control.
“Without the courage of Fr. Ver, we may not be Catholics today,’” said Fr. Ericson Josué, current parish priest of Santa Monica, who called Ver “the ember that reignited the smoldering Roman Catholic Church in Ilocos Norte.”
Fr. Danny Laeda, a historian and homilist during the commemorative Mass, explained that in every moment of crisis in the history of the Catholic Church, God sent personalities that served as portals of grace.
“Fr. Ver was like a firewall that preserved the remnants of the Roman Catholic population during those difficult times at the turn of the 19th Century,” he said.
The Mass was presided over by Fr. Policarpo Albano, Fr. Ver’s great grandnephew who said that the valor of Fr. Ver manifested his heroism.
According to Josué much has been said about Aglipay and the priests who joined the schism, but less is discussed about those who stayed loyal to the Church.
“It is from them that Filipino Catholics today owe their faith,” he added.
The celebration culminated with a visit to the tomb of the Fr. Ver as a prayer for his eternal repose was offered.
