Tandag bishop emeritus Nereo Odchimar (left) and Malaybalay bishop emeritus Honesto Pacana (right) (Photos courtesy of the Diocese of Tandag Facebook page and Ateneo de Cagayan website)
MANILA – Two retired Catholic prelates passed away on Thursday.
In separate social media posts, the dioceses of Tandag and Malaybalay announced the passing of bishop emeritus Nereo Odchimar and bishop emeritus Honesto Pacana, respectively.
The Tandag diocese said Odchimar died at 10:27 a.m. at the San Pedro Hospital in Davao City. He was 83.
“While in his retirement, he had been suffering from diabetes and kidney complications. He died of metabolic encephalopathy due to end-stage renal disease and diabetic nephropathy,” it added.
Meanwhile, Pacana died past noontime at the age of 91.
“He was admitted for days to the ICU (intensive care unit) in Maria Reyna Xavier University Hospital, CDO (Cagayan de Oro) and after bravely fighting for a couple of days, was declared dead at 12:33 p.m. today,” the Malaybalay diocese said.
Odchimar was born in Bacuag, Surigao del Norte on Oct. 16, 1940. He was ordained a priest on Dec. 19, 1964.
He was appointed as the second Bishop of the Diocese of Tandag on Oct. 18, 2001, until he retired on Feb. 26, 2018.
Odchimar served the diocese for almost 17 years until his retirement in 2018. He also served as the 18th president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) from 2009 to 2011.
On the other hand, Pacana was ordained as a Jesuit priest on June 10, 1965, appointed as bishop on Jan. 12, 1994, and ordained as bishop of Malaybalay on March 4, 1994.
He served the diocese from 1994 to 2010. (PNA)
