Bishop Romulo de la Cruz moved to Kidapawan

The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Bishop Romulo Tolentino de la Cruz as Bishop of Kidapawan in Mindanao.  For the last six years he has been Bishop of San Jose Antique, on the Island of Panay.

The appointment was published in the Vatican at 12 noon on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 – 6 p.m. in the Philippines.  It was released simultaneously in Manila by the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams.

The Diocese of Kidapawan has been vacant since January of 2007, when Bishop Romulo G. Valles was appointed Archbishop of  Zamboanga.

Bishop de la Cruz, 60, was born in Balasan, Iloilo. He was ordained priest in 1976, and was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Isabela, Basilan in 1987.

The Diocese of Kidapawan comprises eleven towns in the Province of Cotabato; three towns in the Province of Maguindanao; and one town in the Province of Sultan Kudarat.  It is staffed by 27 priests, by 8 Brothers, and 48 Sisters, with 69 seminarians in training.

Bishop de la Cruz had his seminary training at the Notre Dame Archdiocesan Seminary in Cotabato, at Saint Francis Xavier major Seminary in Davao, and at the Institute of Religious Formation in saint Louis, Missouri, in the United States.

Before becoming a Bishop, he served as Parish Priest in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat, and as the rector of the Notre Dame Archdiocesan Seminary in Cotabato.

No date has been set for his installation as the new Bishop of Kidapawan.