Former Kidapawan, Zambo Archbishop Romulo "Romy" dela Cruz dies
Church • 05:45 AM Sat Dec 11, 2021
2
By:
Edwin O. Fernandez / Pastor Bunos Seminary
REQUIESCAT IN PACE
+ Most Reverend ROMULO T. DELA CRUZ, D.D.
(1947-2021)
Fourth Archbishop of Zamboanga
This evening at 11:05 PM, the Most Reverend Romulo Tolentino Dela Cruz, Archbishop of Zamboanga, has returned to the Creator at the age of seventy-four, two days after the forty-ninth anniversary of his priestly ordination, on the seventh year of his accession to the Metropolitan See of Zamboanga.
Archbishop Romulo Tolentino de la Cruz was born on June 24, 1947, in Balasan, Iloilo. He was ordained a priest on Dec. 8, 1972, and was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Isabela de Basilan on December 17, 1987 by Pope John Paul II.
His episcopal ordination was on March 16, 1988. On Jan. 28, 1989 he became Bishop-Prelate of Isabela, Basilan, succeeding Bishop Jose Maria Querexeta Mendizabal, CMF. He was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of San Jose de Antique on Jan. 8, 2001 and installed on April 3, 2001.
Bishop Dela Cruz then became Bishop of San Jose de Antique on March 16, 2002, as the successor to Bishop Raul José Quimpo Martirez. Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Bishop of Kidapawan, Cotabato, on May 14, 2008. On March 15, 2014, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Dela Cruz as Archbishop of Zamboanga, taking over his predecessor Archbishop Romulo Valles who was appointed to the See of Davao in 2011. Archbishop Dela Cruz was the principal consecrator and ordaining prelate to Bishop Leo Dalmao, CMF (2019, Ordinary for the Prelature of Isabela de Basilan) and Bishop Moises Cuevas (2020, Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of Zamboanga).
The Pastor Bonus Seminary community of the Archdiocese of Zamboanga expresses its loss as well as requests for your prayers for the eternal repose of Archbishop Dela Cruz.
Let us pray.
O God, who chose your servant Bishop Romulo
from among your Priests,
and endowed him with pontifical dignity
in the apostolic priesthood,
grant, we pray,
that he may also be admitted to their company for ever.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
(Prayers for the Dead [For a Bishop], Roman Missal Amended Latin Third Typical Edition)
REQUIEM aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace. Amen.
(Photo Credits: Pio Angelo Bañez, St. Anthony of Padua Parish Facebook Page)