A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated in the Philippines Oct. 3 for Father Castor G. Sanchez, a retired priest of the Trenton Diocese. He died Sept. 27 at the age of 82.

Father Sanchez was born in Pandan, Cataduanes, Philippines and attended the Holy Rosary Minor and Major Seminaries in Naga City. He was ordained March 18, 1961, in St. Gregory the Great Cathedral, Legazpi City, Albay, Philippines, by Bishop Flaviano B. Ariola, D.D. Father Sanchez served as an assistant priest in various parishes in the Philippines until 1967, when he pursued post-graduate studies. He earned his doctorate in canon law from the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines, in 1970.

Father Sanchez served as an instructor in St. Gregory the Great Minor Seminary, Tabaco, Albay, until 1972, when he continued his ministry as an adjunct priest, parish administrator and pastor in a number of parishes for the next 12 years.

In 1984, Father Sanchez arrived in the U.S. and served as an adjunct priest in All Saints’ Church, Harlem, N.Y. The following year, he moved to the Diocese of Trenton to serve as assistant priest in the former St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Trenton, and chaplain in Helene Fund Medical Center (now Capital Health System at Fuld).

Father Sanchez was incardinated into the Diocese of Trenton in 2000 and served as parochial vicar, first in St. Michael Parish, Trenton, then St. John Parish, Lakehurst, until 2004 when he became the spiritual director of the Legion of Mary Immaculate Conception Curia for Monmouth and Ocean counties. In 2008, Father Sanchez retired from active ministry.