Remembering the late Bishop Pat

Bishop Emeritus Patricio Hacbang Alo was born on December 2, 1939 in Cebu City. He was ordained priest by Cardinal Julio Rosales, then Archbishop of Cebu with Cardinal Rufino Santos, then Archbishop of Manila on March 14, 1964. After his doctorate in theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Cardinal Rosales assigned him as his chancellor. He was then assigned as parish priest at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish Church at the Capitol site, then at St. Therese of the Child Jesus Church in Lahug.

On April 14, 1981, at the age of 41, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Davao and was ordained Bishop on June 7, 1981 at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral. On November 9, 1984, Pope John Paul II named Bishop Alo as the first bishop of the newly erected Diocese of Mati where he served for almost 30 years as local ordinary. Under his term, the parishes in the diocese had grown from 11 to 19, and more priests were ordained. He also invited more religious congregations to work in the Diocese.

Due to health reasons, he resigned before he reached the Church mandatory age retirement (75 years old) on October 19, 2014. Bishop Emeritus Patricio Alo died on April 13, 2021, at the age of 81.