Kapampangan to assume as Gumaca bishop on September 8

• Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/pampanga/local-news/2015/09/03/kapampangan-assume-gumaca-bishop-september-8-428197
• Friday, September 4, 2015

By Ian Ocampo Flora

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Kapampangan Bishop Victor Ocampo will take canonical possession of the Diocese of Gumaca on September 8, to coincide with the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the San Diego Cathedral in Gumaca, Quezon.

This came after Bishop Ocampo, a former parish priest, was consecrated as bishop in solemn rites led by Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle at the Cathedral Shrine of Saint Joseph in Balanga.

Ocampo was born in Angeles City, Pampanga in 1952. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Balanga in 1977.

Ocampo had earlier called for prayers for his new post as he prepares to lead the Diocese of Gumaca in Quezon province.

"St. Paul said that to be a bishop is good but not everybody is capable of becoming one. So this is a grace given to me so I have to accept it," Ocampo said.

He had served in various pastoral and diocesan roles, most recently as chancellor of the Diocese of Balanga (since 2008); pastor of St. Dominic de Guzman Parish in Abucay, Balanga (since 1986); director of the Biblical Apostolate (since 1986); director of the Commission on the Family and Life (since 2008); and member of the College of Consultors (since 2013).

Ocampo's recent installation marked many firsts in the Diocese of Balanga. Ocampo's ordination in Balanga as a bishop was a first since 1739, the first in Bataan since 1754 and the first in the Diocese of Balanga since 1975.

Preparations are now underway at the San Diego Cathedral in Gumaca for the new bishop's installation.

CBCP said Gumaca "is one of the country's growing dioceses with almost a million Catholic population and about 130 priests and religious."

The Diocese of Gumaca was created on April 9, 1984 and currently has 22 parishes with San Diego de Alcala as its titular patron.