Anything Under the Sun
Mill Hill Bishop Cornelius de Wit
During its mission work for a century in the Philippines, the Mill Hill Missionaries (MHM) have produced a bishop in the person of Msgr. Henricus Cornelius De Wit, the first bishop of the Diocese of Antique.
Bishop De Wit was born in Hilversun, Netherlands on July 1922. He was ordained on July 14, 1946 at Roosendal, Netherlands and later sent to the Philippines arriving on May 20, 1947 at Arevalo, Iloilo City at their motherhouse.
Soon, he was sent to Antique as assistant parish priest in Barbaza, then Culasi and Tanza (Iloilo City). His first assignment as parish priest was in San Pedro (San Jose, Antique) in 1954.
In 1947, he was elected delegate of their congregation to the General Chapter in Mill Hill (London). In 1958, he became parish priest of Maasin (Iloilo) and in 1962 was elected Superior of the MHM in the Philippines.
In 1962, he was appointed first bishop of the new Diocese of Antique. As such, he founded the Mensa Domini Institute run by Dominican Sisters which later spread to Aklan and Romblon.
He also founded the Minor Seminary in San Pedro which started operations in 1963. He likewise attended all the sessions of Vatican Council II (1962-65). in consonance with this Council, he caused translations of various liturgical texts to native languages and encouraged community singing. He supported, too, the creation of basic Christian communities.
He also supported establishment of several parochial high schools and established the radio station DYKA.
On the economic side, he initiated formations of cooperatives in his see and brought Dutch farmers and fishermen to Antique to teach modern methods of farming and fishing.
In 1982, he resigned as bishop to accept the position of Superior General (world head) of the Mill Hill Missionaries.
For all these achievements, the Dutch government decorated him with the Knighthood of an officer of the Order of Oranje Nassau. For its part, the province of Antique proclaimed him as one of the "Bugal kang Antique" during the Binirayan 2002.
The good bishop died in 2002 at San Jose, Antique where he was also buried.