Pope appoints new archbishop of Cagayan de Oro
Archbishop-elect Jose Cabantan of Cagayan de Oro. COURTESY OF BRENDA P. MILAN
By CBCP News
June 23, 2020
Manila, Philippines
Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Jose Cabantan as the next archbishop of Cagayan de Oro.
Cabantan, who currently serves as bishop of Malaybalay, will replace Archbishop Antonio Ledesma, who has retired at the age of 77.
The appointment was made in Rome at 12 noon Tuesday or 6pm in the Philippines.
Cabantan, 63, was born in Lagonglong town in Misamis Oriental, and ordained priest at the age of 32 for the Cagayan de Oro archdiocese.
The bishop took a “late vocation” after a few years of working as a licensed chemical engineer.
As priest, he led for several years the archdiocese’s social action center before he was named Malaybalay bishop by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010.
The archbishop-elect also holds a degree in Pastoral Ministry from St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Cagayan de Oro and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Loyola School of Theology in Manila.
In the Philippine bishops’ conference, Cabantan currently heads the Committee on Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs).
