First bishop from Digos: Fr. Ronald Lunas to be ordained bishop, Feb 11

DIGOS CITY – Forty years since Digos became a diocese, finally a member of its clergy will now join the College of Bishops.

Bishop-elect Ronald Lunas is set to be ordained through the laying on of hands of the ordaining prelate, February 11 at the Mary Mediatrix of All Grace Cathedral in Digos City, a proof of the maturity in faith of the local Church of Digos.

Digos became a diocese on November 8, 1979 covering the undivided province of Davao del Sur, with the first bishop, the late Bishop Generoso Camiña appointed on December 20, 1979 and installed February 11, 1980.

Thirty-nine years later, in the same cathedral where the first bishop was installed, the faithful of the local Church of Digos will witness the ordination of their first priest who will now become a bishop.

Following the twin bombings in Jolo Cathedral last January 27, security is tight in the cathedral for the episcopal consecration on February 11, feast of the Our Lady of Lourdes.

Prior to his appointment as 5th Bishop of Pagadian on November 22, 2018, Bishop-elect Lunas served as parish priest of Sta. Cruz Parish in Davao del Sur.

He will succeed Redemptorist Bishop Emmanuel Cabajar, 76, who resigned from his office after reaching the mandatory age of retirement which is 75. Bp. Cabajar serves as Apostolic Administrator until the new bishop takes canonical possession on March.

The first bishop from Digos has chosen the motto ‘Emmanuel’ for his coat of arms.

“This word is found in the annunciation to St. Joseph concerning the Savior to be born through Mary (cf. Mt. 1:23). On the one hand, this is his tribute to St. Joseph, the Patron Saint of his last parish assignment and the first and the oldest of the parishes in the Diocese of Digos. On the other hand, the bishop understands his mission as both a proclamation to and a constant discovery of God’s presence in the people, especially in the last, the lost, and the lonely,” as said in the explanation of his coat of arms.

The bishop-elect had his philosophical studies at St. Francis Xavier College Seminary in Davao City and later studied Theology at the neighboring St. Francis Xavier Regional Major Seminary of Mindanao.

He was ordained to the priesthood on April 7, 1992.

He was then assigned parochial vicar of Immaculate Conception Parish in Caburan, then took his Licentiate in Sacred Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1996.

He served as professor and dean of St. Francis Xavier Regional Major Seminary from 2005 to 2008, then chancellor of the Diocese of Digos.

In 2008 he served as parish priest of San Isidro Labrador Parish in Digos City. He also served as Episcopal Vicar for the Clergy, Member of the College of Consultors and Presbyteral Council of the Diocese of Digos since 2013.

The first bishop from Digos will now be serving his flock in Pagadian after serving the Diocese of Digos for 26 years.