By Nora Soriño
Iligan City Bureau Chief,
Sita Asequia,
and Goni Loable
Correspondents .
Iligan City — The 5th bishop of this city’s diocese is scheduled to be installed at the St. Michael Cathedral this morning.
The youngest bishop of the country at 46 years old, Bishop-elect Rev. Fr. Jose R. Rapadas, III arrived at the city and was welcomed by church dignitaries and parishioners in Sapad, Lanao del Norte yesterday.
Msgr. Rey Pati-an, of the Diocese of Iligan, said the installation has been scheduled at 9:00 am Thursday in the presence of church dignitaries, government officials, and the general public at St. Michael Cathedreal, this city. The installation rites, Pati-an added, would be opened with a Holy Mass.
In an earlier statement about accepting his new assignment, Rapadas said it took a long time for him to decide and that accepting his appointment has required his personal resolve to get out of his comfort zone for the sake of spreading the gospel.
“I’m both terrified and excited to face the unknown bringing with me my 20 years (experience) as a priest and my conviction that what God requires, He enables. I’m excited about where God will lead me in this new journey — joy, sorry, hope, anguish and what not. Some particular things I look forward to forging a strong communion among priests and consecrated persons in the diocese; spiritual upliftment of the faithful through new evangelization, pastoral initiatives for the poor, integrity of creation, and peace among cultures and religions.”
After the installation rites, Rapadas would be the 5th bishop of the Diocese of Iligan. He will shepherd around a million Catholics in 26 parishes of the diocese.
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