BISHOP JOE CABANTAN: MINDANEWS ARTICLE

Vatican names new Malaybalay bishop

by Walter I. Balane/MindaNews

MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/4 March) -- Pope Benedict XVI has appointed a new bishop for the Diocese of Malaybalay following his acceptance of the retirement of Bishop Honest Ch. Pacana, the news site of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines said.

The Pope named bishop-elect Fr. Jose Cabantan of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro to succeed Pacana, 77. Mandatory retirement for bishops is set at the age of 75. Pacana, installed bishop on March 24, 1994, is Bukidnon’s third prelate.

News of the priest’s appointment was released in the Vatican last week. Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams, apostolic nuncio to the Philippines, simultaneously announced the elections in Manila.

Cabantan was ordained to the priesthood in 1990, the CBCP site said, and is currently pastor of the Miraculous Medal Parish in Cagayan de Oro. The 53-year-old priest was born in Lagonglong town in Misamis Oriental. He is the director of the archdiocese’s Social Action Center.

Fr. Jonathan Tianero, of the Diocese of Malaybalay’s media office, said Cabantan will be the first bishop to come from Cagayan de Oro since it became a prelature 75 years ago. He will be ordained bishop on April 30 in Cagayan de Oro, Tianero said. He will be installed as Malaybalay’s new bishop on May 15, in time for the celebration of the Feast of San Isidro, patron saint of the San Isidro Cathedral.

Tianero said Pacana applied for retirement two years ago. He said they are building a residence for the bishop in one of the local seminaries.

One of the bishop’s most remembered recent pronouncements is the inclusion on the diocese’s political education module the advice for parishioners to “accept money offered by politicians but voting still based on conscience.”

He also suspended Fr. Diosdado Tabios when the latter filed his certificate of candidacy to run for Bukidnon governor in the May 2010 elections.

This is the first time local parishioners will experience seeing a bishop retire. The first prelate, Bishop Francisco Claver, retired in the Mountain Province. Next came Bishop Gaudencio Rosales, who is still the current archbishop of Manila.

A retiring bishop, Tianero said, retains his full priesthood and will still do ordinations and confirmations. But he will relinquish his administrative and pastoral functions to the next bishop upon installation. Tianero assures parishioners of a smooth transition, adding that they know the new bishop as a patient, generous, and “not pushy” man, just like Pacana.

Pacana, like Bishops Jose Manguiran of Dipolog and Elenito Galido of Iligan, was a priest from Bukidnon before his election as prelate. (Walter I. Balane / MindaNews)