New Mindanao prelate installed amid security threats

Archbishop Angelito Lampon replaces Cardinal Orlando Quevedo as head of Cotabato Archdiocese.

Archbishop Angelito Lampon of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, center with crozier, is installed as the new head of Cotabato Archdiocese on Jan. 30. (Photo by Ferdinandh Cabrera)

Cotabato city:  A new prelate was installed in the Archdiocese of Cotabato in the southern Philippines amid tight security on Jan. 30 following the bombing of a cathedral in Sulu province three days before.

Archbishop Angelito Lampon of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate was prelate of the Vicariate of Jolo until his installation as the new head of Cotabato Archdiocese.

"My heart is bleeding for my people, we have known them for 21 years, they became my family," said the teary-eyed prelate in an interview.

At least 21 people were killed and 97 others wounded when two bombs exploded inside the Cathedral of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Jolo on Jan. 27.

"It's a big emotional upheaval inside, and yet my faith tells me to continue extending the hand of friendship," Archbishop Lampon told journalists following his installation.

He said he would continue working for inter-religious dialogue even as he admitted that it has been difficult to understand the violence.

Archbishop Lampon replaced the now-retired Cardinal Orlando Quevedo as head of Cotabato Archdiocese.

In his homily during the ceremony, Cardinal Quevedo said one must be "spirit-filled and spirit-driven" to be an effective bishop.

The cardinal, who served as Cotabato's prelate for two decades, endured one of the world's longest-running Muslim insurgencies.

He said that only when a bishop is "in communion with the Holy Spirit, only when the Spirit dwells in him, will he be a prophet with courage, without fear, in season and out of season."

In a region marred by tension and insecurity, he said that a shepherd must bring hope to people "who look for light in a cultural darkness and mutual biases and prejudices."

"He must lead his flock and those who are not of his flock to peace and harmony," said Cardinal Quevedo, an Oblate missionary like Archbishop Lampon.

He expressed sadness over the attack in Jolo where the Oblate missionaries have been working for the past 75 years.

He said the bombing was "a call to sobriety, a call to mutual collaboration, and not to be diffusive and confrontational."

"It is a call to unity in diversity, [which is] the foundation of our essential values [of] respect for one another," said Cardinal Quevedo.

In his message, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, papal nuncio to the Philippines, conveyed Pope Francis' support for Archbishop Lampon and his pastoral ministry.

"You are not alone. We are with you, all of us," said the pope's envoy.

Archbishop Lampon was apostolic vicar of Jolo from 1997 until November 2018 when Pope Francis appointed him as Archbishop of Cotabato.

Churchgoers had to go through a tight security cordon around the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cotabato City to attend the installation ceremony.

Soldiers and policemen were deployed around the church and in nearby areas to ensure security.

Source: UCAN