All set for installation of new Kidapawan bishop

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines - People from various parishes in the diocese of Kidapawan are expected to troop to the Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace cathedral to witness the installation of its fifth prelate on June 19. Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams, the papal nuncio to the Philippines, will administer the installation of new Kidapawan bishop Romulo Dela Cruz. Among those who confirmed to witness the occasion are Cotabato City archbishop Orlando Quevedo, OMI, and Zamboanga archbishop Romulo Valles. Thirty bishops from different places in Mindanao and the Visayas have already confirmed their attendance. Notre Dame Schools in the diocese will be sending delegates to welcome the new bishop. Cathedral workers have been busy preparing for the ceremony. In 2006, Pope Benedict XVI declared the diocese of Kidapawan as “Sede Vacante" following the transfer of then bishop Romulo Valles to the archdiocese of Zamboanga. The Kidapawan diocese, which was established as a prelature in 1976, covers 11 towns of North Cotabato, three towns of Maguindanao and Columbio in Sultan Kudarat province. Before assuming his new post in Kidapawan, a suffragan of the archdiocese of Cotabato, Dela Cruz served as bishop of the Diocese of San Jose de Antique for seven years and the Prelature of Isabela de Basilan for 17 years. He served as parish priest in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat, and rector of Notre Dame Archdiocesan Seminary in Sharif Kabunsuan before being appointed bishop. Born on June 24, 1947, in Balasan, Iloilo , Dela Cruz was ordained priest on December 8, 1972, ordained bishop on March 16, 1988, and installed on April 9, 1988. - Williamor A. Magbanua, GMANews.TV