MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews / 6 January) – Retired Archbishop Fernando Capalla, who led the Archdiocese of Davao for more than 15 years, passed away early on Saturday in Davao City, according to CBCP News, the news website of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.
Capalla, a known peace advocate who served as CBCP president from 2003 to 2005, was 89.
The news of his death was conveyed by the current archbishop of Davao, Romulo Valles, to the secretariat of the CBCP.
“Ordained a priest for the Jaro Archdiocese in 1961, Capalla was appointed auxiliary bishop of Davao in April 1975, at the age of 40, and consecrated as a bishop in June of the same year,” CBCP News said.
“In 1977, he was designated prelate of the Prelature of Iligan. He became Iligan’s first bishop when Pope John Paul II elevated it to a diocese in 1982,” it said.
“He also served as the apostolic administrator of Marawi from 1987 to 1991 while the prelature awaited a new shepherd,” it added.
While serving as bishop of Iligan, Capalla brokered local peace talks with communist and Moro rebel groups in Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur.
At the height of martial law, he opened the doors of the Diocese of Iligan to human rights groups such as the Task Force Detainees and Justice and Peace Group, and sometimes even joined them on fact-finding missions.
Sometime in 1984, he negotiated for the release of a TFD worker in Iligan who was arrested and detained for alleged links with the underground movement.
He founded the Bishops-Ulama Conference, an interreligious organization aimed at fostering understanding between Muslims and Christians.
In the CBCP, he also led its various departments such as the Episcopal Commission on Interreligious Dialogue and Episcopal Commission on Ecumenical Affairs.
CBCP News cited that Capalla’s 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.
In 1994, Capalla was appointed coadjutor archbishop of Davao, and he assumed the role of Davao archbishop in 1996 following the retirement of Archbishop Antonio Mabutas, CBCP News said. (H. Marcos C. Mordeno/MindaNews)
