Our founder
Msgr. Frederick “Fred” Kriekenbeek
1932 — 2022
A Harvard scholar who chose the priesthood, a pioneer of the charismatic renewal in the Philippines, one of Cebu’s first exorcists, and the founder of Mary’s Little Children Community in 1998.
- Years a priest
- 61
- Communities
- 5
- Years of life
- 90
His life
Frederick Kriekenbeek was born in Cabanatuan on 12 April 1932, to a Filipino mother and a British father. As a student he was an active apostle of Catholic Action. In March 1950 he graduated valedictorian from the high school of the University of San Carlos in Cebu City, and that June he was awarded a scholarship to Harvard.
At Harvard, a daily communicant and devoted to Mary, he met ideas and ideologies that challenged his faith, and by God’s grace worked out his own answers.
The Community’s history sees there the first elements of the spirituality, vision and mission he would later give to Mary’s Little Children.
He studied at Harvard Law School before choosing the priesthood instead, and on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, 2 February 1961, he was ordained at St John’s Seminary in Massachusetts.
His ministry
Pioneer
Catholic Charismatic Renewal
A movement of Catholics who pray expectantly for the Holy Spirit to heal and to renew, which he helped bring to the Philippines.
Exorcist
One of Cebu’s first
A priest appointed by the Church to pray its prayers of deliverance for people in deep spiritual distress. Cardinal Vidal gave him authority to pray the rite of exorcism.
In 1965 Julio Cardinal Rosales decided not to release him to the growing Mission Society of the Philippines. The Community’s history calls that decision the work of divine providence: it kept him in Cebu, where the communities he founded would grow.
In 2019 Archbishop Palma named him a founding member of the Archdiocese of Cebu Office of Deliverance and Exorcism.
Offices he held in Cebu
- Pastor, St Joseph the Worker Parish, Tabunok, Talisay City
- Pastor, Sto. Rosario Parish, Cebu City
- Spiritual director, Catholic Charismatic Communities of Cebu
- Episcopal Vicar for Catholic Education and Catechesis
- Archbishop’s vicar for the charismatic communities
- Leader of Legion of Mary and charismatic prayer groups
The communities he founded
Five communities trace themselves to him. The Community’s history credits this fruitfulness to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, which grew in Cebu from the early 1970s and gave rise to many charismatic and religious communities.
1974
Founder
Living the Gospel Community
Sisters; canonically approved by Rome in 1995.
1996
Helped to found
Mary Queen of Heaven Missionaries
Women religious caring for survivors of abuse and trafficking; a public association in 2003.
1998
Founder
Mary’s Little Children Community
Our Community, founded in Cebu in January and April 1998.
Our Community2009
Founder
Mary’s Missionaries for Evangelization
First established by Cardinal Vidal as a Pious Union.
2020
Co-founder
Mary’s Immaculate Heart Missionaries
Women religious caring for survivors of abuse and trafficking.
Cardinal Vidal first established Mary Queen of Heaven Missionaries, Mary’s Little Children Community and Mary’s Missionaries for Evangelization as Pious Unions. The Community’s history explains the January and April 1998 dates recorded in its founding documents.
A life in dates
Ninety years, at a glance
12 April 1932
Born in Cabanatuan, to a Filipino mother and a British father
1950
Valedictorian at the University of San Carlos high school; a scholarship to Harvard
Before ordination
Studied at Harvard Law School
2 February 1961
Ordained a priest at St John’s Seminary, Massachusetts
1965
Kept in Cebu by Julio Cardinal Rosales, not released to the Mission Society of the Philippines
1974
Founded the Living the Gospel Community, approved by Rome in 1995
1996
Helped to found Mary Queen of Heaven Missionaries
1998
Founded Mary’s Little Children Community in Cebu
2009
Founded Mary’s Missionaries for Evangelization
2019
Founding member of the Archdiocese of Cebu Office of Deliverance and Exorcism
2020
Co-founder of Mary’s Immaculate Heart Missionaries
26 September 2022
Died in Cebu City, aged ninety
1 October 2022
Buried at the Living the Gospel Community mother house, Barili
Knowing Msgr. Fred
Small stories of the founder, remembered by the people who knew him.
On April 12, 1932, Rev. Msgr. Frederick “Fred” B. Kriekenbeek was born to a Filipino mother and a British father. He was a Harvard Law School scholar during his younger years, which he set aside to follow the vocation of a priestly life and ministry. On the Feast of the Presentation of our Lord, February 2, 1961, he was ordained as a priest at St. John’s Seminary, Massachusetts.
Photo Courtesy of Ivan Joeseff/Cebu Flash Report
Back in 2018, a photo of Msgr. Fred captivated the public as he was seen controlling the traffic after a Holy Mass celebration at the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño de Cebu. Whenever Msgr. Fred is in a hurry for the next mission, may it be a scheduled mass or an apostolate, he has this habit of going out of his car to help in traffic control and enforcement.
Read all 4 stories
Msgr. Fred was one of the pioneering exorcists in the Archdiocese of Cebu. He was given the authority to conduct exorcism by the late Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, but his position was not formalized. It was only in 2019 that Msgr. Fred was formally appointed by Archbishop Jose Palma as one of the founding members of the Archdiocese of Cebu Office of Deliverance and Exorcism (ACODE).
Photo Courtesy of the Rightful Owner
Msgr. Fred used to serve in many parishes and ministries in the Archdiocese of Cebu. A few of which are in the parishes of Sto. Rosario, Minglanilla, and Tabunok.
His death
He died in Cebu City on 26 September 2022, aged ninety. His body lay for a time in the chapel of the mother house in Tabunok.
On 1 October 2022, after the funeral Mass, he was buried at the Living the Gospel Community mother house chapel in Mantalongon, Barili, Cebu.