Retired Davao archbishop Capalla passes away at 89

Retired Davao archbishop Fernando Capalla passed away on Saturday.

Incumbent Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles conveyed the passing of Capalla to the secretariat of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines. (CBCP).

Capalla, 89, served the archdiocese for more than 15 years and was a known peace advocate in Mindanao.

He headed the CBCP from 2003 to 2005. “It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing away of our beloved Archbishop-Emeritus Fernando R. Capalla at the age of 89, at 1:23 a.m. today, 6 January 2024,” Msgr. Jaime Gamboa, chancellor of the archdiocese, said in an announcement.

“We in the Archdiocese of Davao, with the Most Rev. Romulo G. Valles, our Archbishop, and the Most Rev. George B. Rimando, our Auxiliary Bishop, and the clergy and religious and lay faithful, will remember with gratitude Archbishop Nanding. We mourn his passing but we are assured of the word of God found in the Book of Wisdom (3:1), ‘The souls of the just are in the hands of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them.’”
 
Capalla was ordained priest for the Jaro Archdiocese in Iloilo City in 1961, was appointed auxiliary bishop of Davao in April 1975 at the age of 40, and was consecrated as a bishop in June of the same year.
 
In 1977, he was designated prelate of the Prelature of Iligan and became the city’s first bishop when Pope John Paul II elevated it to a diocese in 1982.
 
From 1987 to 1991, Capalla served as the apostolic administrator of Marawi.
 
In 1994, he was appointed coadjutor archbishop of Davao and assumed the role of Davao archbishop in 1996 after the retirement of Archbishop Antonio Mabutas.
 
Capalla led various departments in the CBCP, such as the Episcopal Commission on Interreligious Dialogue and the Episcopal Commission on Ecumenical Affairs.
 
He was also the founder of the Bishops-Ulama Conference, an interreligious organization aimed at fostering understanding between Muslims and Christians.
 
His efforts in interfaith dialogue earned him several awards, including the San Lorenzo Ruiz Award for Peace and Unity in 1991, Ateneo de Manila University’s Public Service Award for Peace in 1998, and the Aurora Aragon Quezon Peace Award for Peace Advocacy and Peace Building in 2000. 

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