10 seminarians ordained to diaconate
Ten men chose to become servants of God by accepting the path towards priestly vocation.
“Diaconate means to serve (and) we have a master, our Lord that is God. (But) the beauty of this calling is that the Lord who called us (to priesthood) is Himself the best personification, the best example of (being) servant,” Archbishop Jose Palma said in his homily during the ordination of 10 deacons yesterday at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.
What makes the event more significant, said Palma, is its relevance to the focus of the Philippine Catholic Church that is the Year of the Clergy and Consecrated Life with the theme “Renewed Servant Leaders for the New Evangelization.”
The men ordained to the diaconate are Alden John Baran from Carcar City, Cebu; Mel John Coraraton from Consolacion, Cebu; Arnel Dionaldo from Moalboal, Cebu; Richfield Vincent Hernando from Toledo City, Cebu; Francis Manugas from San Fernando, Cebu; Jeffmonray Romarate from Alcoy, Cebu; and Jerald Pinay and Eddie Boy Vega both from Mandaue City, Cebu.
The other two ordained deacons are from the Society of the Angel of Peace (SAP) – Rex Reymund “Gabriel” Belino from Ginatilan, Cebu; and Nomil Rico “Ignatius Arsolon from Medellin, Cebu.
Deacon is the first of the three ranks of clergy before becoming priests then bishops. They assist bishops and are responsible for teaching and administering certain Church tasks.
“Seven bishops in the country died this year but today we welcome new members of the clergy who will continue the work of Christ. All of us will continue to serve God to glorify Him and to bring good to the community,” Palma said.
Two of the bishops who passed away this year are Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal who died on October 18 and Santader, Cebu-native Bishop Leopoldo Tumalak who was appointed as the Military Ordinariate of the Philippines.
But one unfortunate event happened last Monday night when a retired Catholic priest, Marcelito “Tito” Paez, 72, was shot dead by motorcycle-riding gunmen while he was driving in Jaen town, Nueva Ecija.
Though he retired in 2015, he continued to be active in working for the protection of rights of the poor and farmers.
On the sidelines after the Mass, Palma expressed his sympathy to the family and the Catholic community close to the activist-priest, whom he saluted for espousing the protection of rights of others and standing for justice and truth.
“Killings sometimes (happen to) some priests and bishops also (especially) those who are very vocal against certain anomalies of any entity… some become an unwilling victim and sacrifice their lives for the sake of the Christian values that he believe in,” he said.
Supporting advocacies though is a personal decision of the individual priests, Palma said, the clergy “knows what it takes to defend truth and justice.”