LINGAYEN-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas chose to forego a traditional lunch celebration during his installation as the highest Church official of the province Wednesday morning.

The prelate said there was no reception in solidarity with the poor in the province and the victims of Typhoon Pepeng.

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"As an expression of solidarity with the flood victims of Pangasinan now in need of help to start again, we will not have any lunch reception after our liturgy. The money that will be saved from your act of sacrifice will be used to help the poor of Pangasinan," he said, in his homily at the Cathedral of Saint John the Apostle, Dagupan City.

He noted that what he did was not being tightfisted but for charity. "This is what God told us to do. I believe this is what Jesus would have done if he were in Dagupan."

Last month, the province of Pangasinan was hit by massive flooding brought by Typhoon Pepeng.

Villegas asked the people of his new flock to give him the chance to serve and love them as he begins his mission of being their pastor.

At the same time, he assured them that he will continue what his predecessor, Archbishop Oscar Cruz started in the archdiocese.

Last September 8, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Villegas as the new Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan after accepting the resignation of Archbishop Oscar Cruz. (FP/Sunnex)