Malaybalay Diocese Ordains, Installs Bishop Pedregosa As 5th Bishop

MALAYBALAY CITY – On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, 14 September 2021, the Diocese of Malaybalay welcomes, ordains and installs its fifth bishop, the Most Rev. Noel P. Pedregosa, D. D. with his predecessor, the Most Rev. Jose A. Cabantan – archbishop of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro, as the principal consecrator. Most Rev. Raul B. Dael, D.D. of the Diocese of Tandag and Most Rev. Angelito R. Lampon, OMI, D.D. of the Archdiocese of Cotabato served as co-consecrators.

In his homily, Bp. Dael affirmed the date of the ordination saying that it is providential. It can be recalled that the original date of the episcopal ordination was set to September 11, 2021 as it is the 30th presbyteral anniversary of Bp. Pedregosa. But the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, Archbishop Charles Brown requested that it be changed to September 14 so he can join the celebration.

“Maybe Jesus wants us and Bp. Noel, to focus more on Jesus,” said Bp. Dael.

“The appointment of a priest to become a bishop is more than an office. The person who is appointed enters into a deeper relationship with Jesus. As an episcopus, an overseer, he oversees the diocese using the eyes of God. He maybe assisted with some branches and discipline of knowledge, but after gathering all the data, he will see the context, the situation, and he judges, using the eyes of faith, using the eyes of Jesus.”

The feast, according to Bp. Dael invites us to look at Jesus, the image of Jesus on the Cross.

“And the cross of Jesus points to heaven but is grounded on the earth.” Bp. Dael pointed out that on the cross, Jesus with the two criminals crucified beside him seemingly shows conflicting realities – the good and evil, defeat and hidden victory, selfishness and total generosity, cynicism and unwavering hope.

“All these things were put together as one reality in the cross of Jesus.” And Bp. Pedregosa’s motto – Ut Omnes Unum Sint (That They May All Be One), the prayer Jesus prayed on the cross, becomes a reality. “He united, in that very moment, heaven and earth.” Jesus’ stretching of his arms on the cross was not just an embrace of the two criminals, but also of the whole of humanity and the whole of creation.

Bp. Dael addressed Bp. Pedregosa the following: “This is the kind of unity that you bring in your episcopacy. The unity of people and the integrity of God’s creation. And this is the advocacy that the church of Malaybalay stands for, stood for in the past.”

The Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines also expressed his gratefulness and joy in his attendance to the ordination of Bp. Pedregosa – the event being his first time to participate in an episcopal ordination in the Philippines, and his first time to be in Mindanao. A bishop, according to Abp. Brown, is called to give his life for his sheep – his priests, religious, lay people.

“That is what a bishop is called to be.”

In his words of gratitude, Bp. Pedregosa especially mentioned his priests – as his “object of affection formally, starting today, until I shall breath my last.” (SCL/DXDB Radyo Bandilyo)