Bishop Aseo formally takes over Tagum diocese

It began with a procession.About 27 bishops and more than 100 priests solemnly walked into Christ the King Cathedral in Tagum City.In all, around 2,000 came to witness the episcopal ordination and installation of Bishop Medil Aseo on June 20. This is the day that the Lord has made, said Archbishop Romulo Valles of Davao and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, who served as the principal consecrator.After receiving his episcopal ring, miter and pastoral staff, Aseo was officially ordained and installed as the fourth bishop of the Tagum diocese, the birthplace of the Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs) in the Philippines.The new bishop admitted that he is unworthy of such high office and is not without apprehensions at the enormity of the challenges that he will be facing.This means, according to Valles in his homily, that the faithful must be with Aseo all the more closely as he embarks on a new mission . As you can see, our new bishop’s mission, any bishop’s mission, is not easy, Valles said. Bishop Medil must be teacher, shepherd and high priest in the place of Christ. In his message, Papal nuncio Archbishop Gabriele Caccia urged the faithful to be better disciples of Jesus . I invite all of you to offer this desire to be better — better men, better women, better workers, better disciples as a gift to the new bishop. And it will be sustained by prayer and by our own example, Caccia said.A priest for 39 years, Aseo has served the diocese in various capacities as pastor, seminary formator, and marriage and family counsellor.His last assignment was off-shore, doing pastoral work in the diocese of Greensburg, in Pennsylvania, USA, where he received his appointment from Pope Francis as bishop of Tagum on April 7.Aseo replaced retired Bishop Wilfredo Manlapaz who served the diocese for 32 years.