Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams, Papal Nuncio to the Philippines, arrived yesterday in Bacolod City to lead the Episcopal ordination rites of Fr. Gerardo Alimane Alminaza, the second priest from Negros Occidental who will be ordained bishop.

“It is a pleasure to with you to represent the holy father in this very important function…the ordination of the new bishop,” Adams said.

 At 8:30 a.m. today the Bacolod Diocese marks one of the most significant events in its history, the Episcopal ordination of Alminaza, who will also turn 49 on the same day.

 Adams will lead the ceremony with Archbishop Angel Lagdameo and Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra, who will deliver the homily.

Expected to attend the ordination rites at the San Sebastian Cathedral are two other archbishops and 20 bishops from different dioceses all over the country.

Aside from being ordained to the episcopacy today, Alminaza is also celebrating his 49th birthday which falls on the feast of St. John Mary Vianney, patron saint of the Diocesan clergy.

Among those who arrived yesterday from Manila to join the new bishop in his Episcopal ordination is Fr. Ric Torrefiel, his classmate at the University of Santo Tomas Central Seminary, where he completed his Bachelor in Sacred Theology degree.

Alminaza is the second in their batch at the UST to become a bishop, Torrefiel said. Monsignor Bernardito Auza, newly appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti, was recently ordained to the episcopacy at the Basilica of Saint Peter in Rome.

Fr. Torrefiel describes Alminaza as “a man of prayer” and was one of the four seminarians in their batch who prefers to wear the black cassock.

“He is serious but not an introvert. He is committed to the tasks given him and he always has a smile for people he met,” Torrefiel said.

Alminaza is the only child of Felix and Antonio Alminaza of Barangay San Jose, Sipalay. He studied ecclesiastical philosophy at the Sacred Heart Seminary in Bacolod City and obtained a Bachelor of Arts major in Philosophy from the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos.

The new bishop earned his Master of Arts degree in religious education with core concentration on pastoral counseling and spiritual direction at Fordham University in New York in 1994. He is currently a candidate for a doctorate degree in educational management from UNO-R.

When Pope Benedict XVI named Alminaza auxiliary bishop of Jaro, he was the rector of the Sacred Heart Seminary in Bacolod City.

NUNCIO’S ARRIVAL

Hundreds of Catholic faithful waving yellow and white flaglets lined the streets from Silay to Bacolod City yesterday morning to welcome the arrival Archbishop Adams, Papal Nuncio to the Philippines.

Adams is the ambassador of the Vatican to the Philippines and the dean of the diplomatic corps.

The papal nuncio arrived at 10:30 a.m. at the Bacolod Silay airport and was welcomed by Silay Mayor Jose Montelibano, Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra, Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella, and San Carlos Mayor Eugenio Lacson.

The motorcade from the airport ended at the San Sebastian Cathedral where the papal nuncio prayed. He later joined Bishop Navarra and Bacolod priests in a lunch at the Bishop’s House. *NAB

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