The Boletin Eclesiastico de Filipinas (BEF), the official interdiocesan bulletin, was established in response to a need. In the early twenties, the Apostolic Delegate of His Holiness to the Philippines made an appeal to each local ordinary to work toward the establishment of a national bulletin for the clergy upon realizing the fact that many priests in the country did not immediately get the chance to read the Pope’s encyclical letters, as well as other important documents from Rome. When this publication became a reality, the first editors considered “rendering a detailed account of Papal documents and of the decisions and decrees of the Roman Congregations” as the “principal and most important function of the Review.”
The Boletin had some precedents in the Philippines. In 1876, Archbishop of Manila Msgr. Payo started the publication of Boletin Eclesiastico de Arzobispado de Manila. In 1892, this became the Boletin Official de Arzobispado de Manila. But this publication disappeared when Spanish sovereignty in the Philippines ended.
When Msgr. Guglielmo Piani became Apostolic Delegate of the Holy See in the Philippines, he noted the absence of an official ecclesiastical bulletin and brought this matter to the attention of the bishops. On April 23, 1923, the basic guidelines for the official bulletin were circularized. The bishops asked the University of Santo Tomas to take charge of the publication.
Since its initial issue dated June 1, 1923, the Boletin has served as the mouthpiece of dioceses in the Philippines. The publication was endorsed by Most Rev. M. J. O’Doherty, then Archbishop of Manila. Fr. Francisco Cubeñas, O.P., then Director of UST Seminary was appointed the first editor. He held the office until he died in September, 1929. From the beginning, the principal contributors to the publication were the professors of the Ecclesiastical Faculties of the University. There were also contributions from the other faculties and even from writers not connected with the University.
The war stopped the Boletin’s publication from December, 1941 to January, 1946. After the war, it became a bi-monthly publication under the editorship of Fr. Agapio Salvador who held the office from January, 1946 to April, 1947. In May, 1947, Fr. Juan Ortega was appointed editor. He worked until December, 1956.
In January, 1948, the Boletin reverted to its monthly publication. In January, 1957, Fr. Jesus Merino became the editor and with him the monthly editorial became a regular feature of the Boletin. He remained in office until December, 1960. Fr. Excelso Garcia, presently the Director of the UST Printing Office served the office from January, 1961 to December, 1967.
Prior to 1960, the Boletin was published in Spanish except the official Church documents which were published in English for the benefit of foreign English speaking members of the clergy. In January, 1962, its medium of communication shifted from Spanish to English.
The following had been editors of the Boletin: Fr. Quintin Garcia (1967); Fr. Leonardo Legaspi (January, 1968-December, 1969); Fr. Jose Ma. Tinoko (January, 1970-February, 1971); Fr. Jaime Boquiren (March, 1971-December, 1972); Fr. Pompeyo de Mesa (January, 1973-February, 1974); Fr. Efren Rivera (March, 1974-February, 1983); Fr. Vicente Cajilig (March, 1983-June, 1991 and July, 1995 to present); Fr. Roman Carter (July, 1991-June, 1993); Fr. Honorato Castigador (July, 1993-June, 1995); Fr. Vicente Cajilig (July, 1995-August, 2005); Fr. Rolando dela Rosa (September, 2005-October, 2008); Fr. Florentino Bolo, Jr. (November, 2008-December 2009), Fr. Norberto Castillo (2010 to 2012) and Fr. Louie Coronel (2013-present)
The Boletin is published bi-monthly by the University of Santo Tomas. It contains an editorial, documentation, canon law, liturgy, features, cases and inquiries, history and homiletics. Two “sections” of the Boletin Eclesiastico were the most welcome of each issue: the “Casos Y consultos” – cases and consultations – in which questions sent by readers were answered by experts, and the “cronica” – chronicle – which followed up the events of relevance for the Church here and abroad.