The Military Ordinariate of the Philippines was initially erected as a Military Vicariate on December 8, 1950 as per decree by Pope Pius XII via the Consistoriat Decree "Ad consulendum". It was accepted by the Philippine Government in a diplomatic Agreement which took effect through the exchange of "Notes Verbal" in 1952 between then-Foreign Secretary Jaime Elizalde and the Papal Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Egidio Vagnozzi. Rufino Jiao Santos, then-Auxiliary Bishop of Manila, took possession of the Vicariate and became the first Military Vicar in Philippine history.