Three Franciscan friars from the Visayas were ordained priests on Dec. 12, feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, at the San Vicente Ferrer parish church in Cebu City.
Ordained by Cebu Auxiliary Bishop Dennis C. Villarojo were Benigno P. Flores, OFM of Cebu City; Royce G. Trinidad, OFM of Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental; and Dan Kevin P. Solayao, OFM of Tucdao, Biliran.
Fr. Arturo C. Daquilanea, OFM, custos of the Custody of St. Anthony of Padua, assisted in the Mass of ordination.
“The solemn and emotional event was attended by the friars, other groups of consecrated persons, the families and friends of the new priests,” said Fr. Antonio Ma. Rosales, OFM, former parish priest of Santuario de San Antonio in Forbes Park, Makati. “Bishop Villarojo shared a deeply pastoral homily on love and commitment in the priestly ministry.”
Franciscans were the second oldest Catholic missionary group to come to the Philippines after the Augustinians. They arrived in 1578 and evangelized in Morong (now Rizal), Laguna, Tayabas (now Quezon), the Bicol region, Samar and Leyte.
In 2007, the Custody for the south was established from San Pedro Bautista province in Luzon. The new semi-province includes schools and parishes in Samar, Biliran, Negros Oriental and Cebu City.
The southern Custody likewise is present in Milagro, Ormoc City, and the Service of Dialogue in Davao City; Baloi, Lanao del Norte; Kidapawan, North Cotabato; Josefina, Zamboanga del Sur; and in Tairan and Looc in Basilan.
Formation Houses are in Calbayog (aspirancy), Cebu (postulancy), Josefina (novitiate), Davao (post-novitiate) and Kidapawan (integration year).
For inquiries, contact Fr. Prescilo A. Salomon, OFM (09177709431; 32 – 2733614; e-mail ofmphils.vocationscsap@yahoo.com or ciloi_ofm@yahoo.com
Franciscan bells
Because the Franciscans took over the Samar missions, they were the ones who ministered to Balangiga, Eastern Samar. Therefore, the controversial Bells of Balangiga are of “Franciscan origin,” historian Rolando Borinaga told Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) News.
“The 1853, 1889 and 1895 bells have the Franciscan coat of arms,” said Borinaga, author of the book “The Balangiga Conflict Revisited” published in 2003.
Borinaga said that the people raised funds to acquire the first church bell: “This might have been the large 1853 bell.”
He added that, based on data from the Samar Archaeological Museum and Cantius Kobak Research Center at Christ the King College in Calbayog City, Samar, it was in 1854 when the church in Balangiga was dedicated to San Lorenzo de Martir, with a Franciscan, Fr. Manuel Valverde, as the first priest to be assigned there.
The second bell, a medium-sized one, was acquired in 1889, through the initiative of Fr. Agustin Delgado, OFM, whose name is inscribed on the bell.
In 1895, Balangiga acquired its third and smallest bell through the initiative of Fr. Bernardo Aparicio, OFM.
For announcements, e-mail lzulueta@inquirer.com.ph.