New heads elected for Claretians, Redemptorists

Fr. Elias Ayuban, Jr., was elected provincial superior of the Philippine Province of the Claretian missionaries.

As superior, he will oversee the work and welfare of around 120 priests, brothers and seminarians in the Province, which also covers Myanmar, Vietnam and Australia.

Ayuban, 51, succeeds Fr. Eduardo Apungan, who served for about four years.

Prior to his election, he has been working as an official in the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in Rome.

A priest for 22 years now, Ayuban has a doctorate in Canon Law and served as a professor at the Claretianum in Rome.

The election came during their 15th provincial chapter held this week at the Claret Retreat House in Quezon City.

Last week, the Redemptorist Vice-Province of Manila also elected a new leadership team with Fr. Victorino Cueto as its vice provincial superior.

Upon his election, Cueto, 52, has been serving as Director at the St. Alphonsus Theological and Mission Institute in Davao City.

Among his previous assignments include serving as Rector of the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, or Baclaran Church.

He also served as lecturer at Loyola School of Theology and St. Vincent School of Theology in Manila.

Cueto, who was ordained a priest in 1991, holds doctorate degrees in Sacred Theology and Philosophy from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.