PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur -- The local diocese welcomes new Diocesan Bishop Ronald Lunas, who was installed Monday at the Sto. Niño Cathedral here.
Lunas assumed the leadership of 76-year-old Bishop Emmanuel Cabajar who has already retired.
Metropolitan Archbishop Martin Jumuad from the Ozamiz Diocese led the installation witnessed by Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, Italian Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia.
Lunas, the fifth Catholic leader in the local diocese, told local reporters he was still not comfortable being called bishop and still prefers to be called "Father Bong".
Bishop Cabajar said he was confident a new "shepherd" will be looking after the local diocese.
"You come here, you have seen the warm welcome from students along the way, that is the feeling of the Diocese," Cabajar told the new bishop, adding that he was confident the new leader could guide the faithful to "become better people".
The Interfaith Forum for Solidarity and Peace of this province, whose members include the indigenous Subanens and Muslims, also witnessed the installation of the new bishop.
The group was headed by Cabajar as the lead convenor, who said he wanted to pass on to the new bishop the leadership and advocacy on the harmony of the Muslims, Christians, and Subanens.
Lunas readily accepted the new role in the interfaith group, saying it has been the Vatican's call for Catholics to engage in inter-religious dialogues.
Cabajar who has served for almost 15 years in the city’s diocese, is set to go back to his Redemptorist home in Cebu City.
The installation of Lunas was witnessed by bishops, priests, deacons and other Catholic leaders from as far as Palawan, Davao, Mati, Iligan, Zamboanga, Dipolog, Ozamiz, Digos and Butuan.
Lunas was ordained as bishop last February 11 in Digos City and was chosen to take a position in the local diocese after Cabajar.
Lunas, who was born on November 27, 1966, and raised in Bala, Magsaysay, was ordained a priest for the Digos Diocese on April 7, 1992. He was assigned as parochial vicar at the Parish of the Immaculate Conception in Caburan, also in Davao del Sur.
Lunas finished his Licentiate in Sacred Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and became the first Professor and then Dean of the St. Francis Xavier Regional Major Seminary and later assigned as Chancellor of Digos.
He also became parish priest of San Isidro de Labrador in Davao City in 2008 and since 2013, served as the Episcopal Vicar for the Clergy, Member of the College of Consultors and of the Presbyteral Council.
Lunas also served as the parish priest of St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur. (PNA)
