Pope raises Mindanao church unit to diocese

A prelature in Mindanao was raised as the country’s 58th Catholic diocese Saturday, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said. Pope Benedict XVI raised the Prelature of Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay, to a full diocese and appointed Julius Tonel as its Bishop-Prelate, the CBCP said. “Ipil, a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Zamboanga, is the 11th diocese in Mindanao. It has a population of nearly 600,000 of which 65 percent are Catholics," the CBCP said. With the new diocese, the Philippines now has 16 archdioceses, 58 dioceses, seven apostolic vicariates, four territorial prelatures and one military ordinariate. The new diocese has 19 parishes, 32 priests and 31 women congregations. Meanwhile, the Pope’s envoy to the Philippines called on a newly ordained Mindanao bishop to be a faithful steward to the people. Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Joseph Edward Adams urged new Malaybalay Bishop Jose Cabantan to emulate the Good Shepherd in caring for his flock. “Keep in mind the Good Shepherd, who knows His sheep, the Good Shepherd who did not hesitate to lay down His life for the sheep," Adams told the newly-ordained bishop, according the CBCP. The nuncio called on Cabantan to be a faithful steward as he was chosen by the Father to care for His beloved people. He said there is a need for the new bishop to bind himself to his brother bishops and help should the opportunity arise. Adams, who led the ordination of Bishop Cabantan at the Saint Augustine Metropolitan Cathedral on Friday, also called on the faithful to honor Cabantan as another Christ in the people’s midst. Assisting Adams were Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma and Malaybalay Bishop Emeritus Honesto Pacana, who is Cabantan’s immediate predecessor. Present at the ordination rites were Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, Jaro Archbishop and former CBCP president Angel Lagdameo, Ipil Bishop Julius Tonel, Novaliches Bishop Antonio Tobias and Butuan Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos. — LBG/SVD, GMANews.TV