Pope appoints engineer as Malaybalay bishop

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed a chemical engineer as bishop of Malaybalay, Bukidnon province in Mindanao, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines said. An article on the CBCP news site said new Malaybalay Bishop Jose Araneta-Cabantan has a degree in chemical engineering before he entered the seminary as a "late bloomer." “I felt humbled by the appointment," he said. No date had been set for his installation, the CBCP said. Cabantan will succeed Bishop Honesto Pacana, who resigned upon reaching the age of 75. Pacana is now 77 years old. The CBCP said Cabantan was ordained in 1990 and is the priest of the Miraculous Medal Parish and Social Action Center Director of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro. He was born in Lagonglong town in Misamis Oriental in 1957. One of his predecessors at his new post is Manila cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, who was bishop of Malaybalay from 1984 to 1992. The Diocese of Malaybalay has 80 priests and 164 religious, and has a 1.4-million Catholic population. The CBCP said Cabantan is a chemical engineer by profession before he entered the seminary in Cagayan de Oro City in 1983. Cabantan took a “late vocation" after taking his Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering at the Cebu Institute of Technology and graduated in 1979. Upon graduation he went home to teach Chemistry at the RVM-run St. John the Baptist High School. After passing the board exams, he worked for Nonoc Mining in Surigao City. Realizing his vocation for the priesthood, he entered the San Jose de Mindanao College Seminary in Cagayan de Oro City in 1983. After finishing philosophy, he became part of the pioneer batch of seminarians at the St. John Vianney Major Seminary and was ordained in 1990. — NPA, GMANews.TV