Aside from being instrumental as unifying strength of the local church, the Boletin was also envisioned to fill up a vacuum caused by the lack of “an ecclesiastical review dedicated exclusively to help the priests in their pastoral work among the people.” Moreover, this publication has served other purposes as: 1) to stimulate the clergy to study not only ecclesiastical sciences but also other fields of study contributory to the formation of an upright and righteous man; 2) to incite and develop in the clergy the habit of pursuing a continuous education; and 3) to offer possible solutions to problems encountered by a parish priest, be these problems religious, educational, social, political or agrarian in nature.
For more than 87 years since its publication, there have been attempts to dislodge the Boletin, being the only ecclesiastical publication in the Philippines. There are, of course other publications equated with the Boletin because of related functions. Among them are: The Sentinel, a weekly newspaper of the Archdiocese of Manila; Filipinas, a successor to the Sentinel; Philippine Priests’ Forum, a publication of the Philippine Priests, Inc.; and the most recent CBCP Monitor, a publication of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.
