MANILA, Philippines - Two Roman Catholic bishops have tendered their resignation a few years shy of the mandatory retirement age for priests, according to Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) news service.
The CBCPNews announced that Pope Benedict XVI accepted Friday the resignation of Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez and San Pablo, Laguna Bishop Leo Drona. Archbishop Guiseppe Pinto, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, relayed news of the resignations to the CBCP’s media office the same day.
Though Pinto did not mention specific reasons for the bishops’ resignation, they were made under Canon 401, Paragraph 2 of the Code of Canon Law that provides that a diocesan bishop who becomes unsuited for duties due to illness or other grave reasons is requested to tender his resignation from office.
The Pope has appointed current Gumaca, Quezon Bishop Buenaventura Famadico, 56, as Drona’s successor while the post left by Iñiguez remains vacant.
Iñiguez, a vocal critic of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, was the Caloocan diocese’s first bishop. He resigned from his post, which he has held since August 2003, three years short of the mandatory retirement age of 75.
Iñiguez, who headed the CBCP’s Permanent Committee on Public Affairs, turned 72 last Dec. 10, 2012.
In November 2008, Iñiguez and Novaliches, Quezon City Bishop Antonio Tobias were threatened with being charged with sedition for calling for Arroyo’s ouster.
Iñiguez is an active partner of the environment watchdog EcoWaste Coalition, a member of the defunct Kilusang Makabansang Ekonomiya, and co-chair of the Ecumenical Bishops Forum.
He was born in Cotabato City in December 1940 and ordained as a priest in 1963. He served as Malolos, Bulacan auxiliary bishop from 1985 to 1989 and as Iba, Zambales bishop from 1990 to 2003.
Drona, 71, is the vice chairman of the CBCP’s Commission on Mutual Relations Between Bishops and Religious. He was ordained a priest on Dec. 22, 1967 in Rome and was appointed bishop of San Jose, Nueva Ecija in July 1987 and served the diocese until 2004, when he was transferred to San Pablo, Laguna.
Famadico, Drona’s successor, is a member of the CBCP’s Episcopal Commission on Family and Life. He was ordained a priest in 1983 and appointed auxiliary bishop of Lipa, Batangas in July 2002. In June 2003, the Pontiff appointed him as the second bishop of Gumaca, Quezon.