Fourteen diocesan priests lie prone before the altar as the congregation sing the Litany of Saints during the ordination rites at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma ordained 14 young men who responded to God’s call to priesthood.
Palma said Cebu has the most number of clergy in the country with 401 Diocesan priests, about 300 from various religious congregations and over a thousand religious leaders.
“Cebu is blessed. It has the most number of clergy in the country; truly the the cradle of Christian civilization in the Far East,” said Palma in his homily.
The prelate said it’s but proper to praise and thank the Lord for His immense blessings to Cebu.
“God’s love for us is just so tremendous. He just gave us two new auxiliary bishops, a saint in San Pedro Calungsod, the opportunity to host the International Eucharistic Congress, and now this 14 new priests,” he said.
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The newly ordained priests are Ralph Argoncillo, Villy Jean Cortes, Jose De Dios, Zenon Guanzon, John Temothy Judalco, Moenil Lapa, Rogen Leyson, Rabi Mabala, Arthur Manalo, Joseph Paul Pugasan, Josephus Remonde, Andrei Mikhail Tabotabo, Nissan Toring, and Fran Villegas.
The newly-ordained priests. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
Among those who concelebrated with Palma were Archbishop Emeritus of Cebu Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, Cebu Auxiliary Bishops Dennis Villarojo and Emilio Bataclan, retired Bishop Antonio Rañola, and about a hundred priests.
This batch is the biggest since Palma was installed in 2011 although not the biggest in the history of the Cebu Archdiocese. In 1994, Cebu Ricardo Cardinal Vidal ordained 19 priests.