The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Basilio Ras Rosales was elevated to Honorary Prelate on January 14, 1976, he was ordained Priest on June 3, 1939 by the late Bishop Miguel Flores Acebedo, D.D.  The last child of the five brothers and sisters, he was born on September 08, 1909 in Calbayog, Samar to Basilio Rosales Sr. and Agueda Ras, both now deceased.

Right after ordination he became the private Secretary of the Bishop and diocesan Economus from 1941 to 1948, concurrently the Director of the Colegio de San Vicente de Paul (now Christ the King College) from 1939 to 1950.

Appointed Provicar General since 1985 while being member of Diocesan consultors.  As Pro-vicar general, he has provided over numerous assemblies of the clergy and has always inspired more devotion to the church teachings.

He was assigned Pastor of the Holy Infant Jesus Parish of Oquendo, Calbayog City, from 1951 to 1959.  Transferred to Calbayog Cathedral as Rector from 1959 to 1968, he was moved back to Oquendo as Parish Priest in Aug. 15, 1968 up to June 3, 2000 for his retirement at the age of 91.  The oldest Parish Priest probably in the whole world.

Among his singular pastoral achievements are the restoration of the Cathedral for the Golden Jubilee of the Diocese in 1960 and the construction of the Parish Rectory.  In 1962 he was also instrumental in the arrival of the Poor Nuns of St. Clare to Calbayog and the putting up of their Monastery, a land mark in the Diocese.  Same is true with the Camillian Fathers in 1987 and built the St. Camillus Hospital.  In May 13, 1994, the Congregation of the Poor Servants of the Divine Providence (Calabrian Brothers) house at the Oquendo Parish Convent which later moved in Dagum Hills and established the Nazareth Formation House in 1997, and in this same year the sisters of Mary Consolatrix of the Eucharist arrived and with the help of Msgr. Rosales, put up their own convent in Brgy. Mawacat, which later transferred to Brgy. San Policarpo.  He also labored hard for the construction of the new building of the Seminario de San Vicente del Paul in Dagum Hills which Bishop Manuel del Rosario started.  It was finished during the incumbency of Bishop Cipriano Urgel, through the untiring assistance of Msgr. Rosales.

Indefatigable in the pastoral dedication, his extraordinary concern for the poor paved the way, with assistance of the late Cardinal Rosales, for the establishment in Oquendo of the “Home of Love” run by the Missionary Sisters of Charity of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, India.

Involved too in the socio-moral upliftment of the people in general, he accepted to work from 1982 to 1986 as member of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board in Metro Manila, first under Mrs. Maria Kalaw Katigbak and later under Justice Sison. 

In the course of his priestly life he admirably inspired many young candidate for the priesthood and religious life, most of whom are now active in the missions and in the ordained ministry.

Exceptional in him is his profound loyalty to the Magisterium of the Church and his devotion to the Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Beloved and revered by the Diocesan Clergy, he is noted for his deep paternal warmth and generosity, highly respected for his mature and wise contribution to difficult deliberations and situations the Diocese had experienced in the past.

Now, even at his retirement, he still manage to help the on going renovation of the Holy Infant Parish where he stayed as Parish Priest for 40 years.  In fact, donated the amount of eight hundred thousand pesos (P 800,000.00) for the installation of the stained glass inside the church, and an additional amount of one hundred ninety thousand pesos ( P 190,000.00) which is half the amount of the total price for the stained glass of the Mystery of Light at the Center.