Church

COTABATO CITY --- The police and military started deploying Monday security details in areas prone to possible attacks by misguided Islamic militants during the Lenten Holidays.Chief Inspector Aldrin Gonzalez, information officer of the Police Regional Office-12, said Monday plainclothes agents have been fielded in markets, terminals and in other busy spots in cities and provinces in central Mindanao as part of the security measures.Region 12 covers the cities of Koronadal, Cotabato, General Santos, Kidapawan and Tacurong and the provinces of Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato, North Cotabato a

Pope Francis has appointed Monsignor Louie Galbines as the next bishop of the Diocese of Kabankalan in Negros Occidental.He replaces Bishop Patricio Buzon who was transferred to the Bacolod diocese in 2016 after serving Kabakanlan for 13 years.Upon his appointment, the third Kabakalan bishop has been serving as the vicar general of the Diocese of Bacolod.Born in Sagay City on November 18, 1966, Galbines completed his philosophical and theological studies at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila.He was ordained a priest for the diocese of Bacolod on 29 April 1994.Galbines, 51, then served

MANILA -- Amid the renewed push to legalize divorce in the country, a top Church official called on parents to consider the welfare of their children before making a decision that would forever change their marriage.Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila said that the comfort and happiness of the parents, as adults, should not hinder the welfare of their kids, whenever possible. My appeal to the couples is think not just of yourselves but also of the children, Tagle said over Manila archdiocese-run Radio Veritas. They (children) are just at the stage of discovering life.

MANILA -- Hundreds of Catholics gathered in Sorsogon City Wednesday to bid farewell to the diocese’s former bishop.Retired Bishop Jesus Varela of Sorsogon died at a hospital in Manila of Feb. 23.

MANILA -- Pope Francis has named a Cagayan de Oro priest as the third Bishop of Tandag in Surigao de Sur province.Fr. Raul Dael, who comes from Jasa-an in Misamis Oriental, was appointed by the pope as the successor of 77-year-old Bishop Nereo Odchimar.Odchimar, who is retiring having passed the age limit of 75, has served the diocese for almost 17 years and was a former president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.Upon his appointment, the bishop-elect has been serving as the Vicar for the Clergy of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro.Dael was born on October 10, 1966.

MANILA — Pope Francis has named Monsignor Bartolome Santos, Jr., as the new bishop of the Diocese of Iba in Zambales which has been vacant for almost four years now.Santos, 50, will succeed Archbishop Florentino Labaras who was appointed to head the Archdiocese of San Fernando in Pampanga in 2014.The bishop-elect is currently the Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia of the Diocese of Malolos in Bulacan.Since 2009, Santos has also been serving as the rector of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Valenzuela City.Santos was born in Santa Maria, Bulacan on December 1, 1967.

MANILA— Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Angel Lagdameo of Jaro, and named Bishop Jose Romeo Lazo of San Jose de Antique to succeed him.Lagdameo, Jaro’s archbishop since 2000, is 77, exceeding for two years the age at which canon law requires bishops to turn their resignation to the pope.Bishop Lazo, who just turned 69 last month, will be the 13th archbishop of one of the largest archdioceses in the country with more than three million Catholic population.In the meantime, the pontiff has named Lagdameo, a former president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Phi

DAVAO City —The second bishop of Mati has been named.Msgr. Abel Apigo, rector of St. Francis Xavier Regional Major Seminary is the new bishop-elect of Mati.The announcement was made after a Holy Mass celebrated as part the 8th annual gathering of Friends of REMASE, a group formed to support the studies of seminarians in Mindanao.The communiqué signed by Apostolic Nuncio Gabriele Caccia, was read by REMASE vice rector, Fr. Reynaldo Retardo.

MANILA — As had been expected for the past week, President Rodrigo Duterte has nominated Grace Relucio-Princesa as Philippine Ambassador to the Holy See.

VALLADOLID, Carcar City, Cebu – Weeks before his first Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) plenary assembly as CBCP president, Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles said he is committed to engaging the Duterte administration through open dialogue.