Archbishop Emeritus Fernando Capalla dies at 89

DAVAO CITY – The Archdiocese of Davao announced that Archbishop Emeritus Fernando R. Capalla passed away before dawn on Saturday, January 5. He was 89.

CAPALLA

Capalla, a former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines from 2003 to 2005, was one of the most influential peace advocates in Mindanao.

The archdiocese mourned his death.

“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,’” Rev. Monsignor Jaime Gamboa said in a statement posted on the Facebook page of the archdiocese.

“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 had been one of the most prominent religious leaders in Mindanao and had been known for his contributions to the inter-religious dialogue and peace process in both Moro and communist rebels.

In 1996, he and other religious leaders founded the Bishops-Ulama Conference, an inter-religious organization aimed at fostering understanding between Muslims and Christians in Mindanao.

The BUC has been one of the most active organizations in promoting grassroots peace-building at the height of the conflict in Mindanao.

According to the CBCP website, Capalla also led its various departments such as the Episcopal Commission on Inter-religious Dialogue and Episcopal Commission on Ecumenical Affairs.

Capalla was ordained a priest for the Jaro Archdiocese in Iloilo in 1961 and was appointed auxiliary bishop of Davao in April 1975 at the age of 40.

He was consecrated as a bishop in June in the same year, the CBCP said.

Two years later, he was designated prelate of the Prelature of Iligan and eventually became Iligan’s first bishop when Pope John Paul II elevated it to a diocese in 1982, the CBCP added.

Capalla was the apostolic administrator of Marawi from 1987 to 1991 while the prelature awaited a new shepherd.

In 1994, Capalla was appointed as coadjutor archbishop of Davao and assumed the role of Davao archbishop in November 1996 and served until his retirement in February 2012.

CBCP noted that Capalla’s contribution in inter-faith 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.