Bishop Joseph Nacua, retired head of the Diocese of Ilagan in Isabela province, has been laid to rest on Friday, Sept. 17.
Hundreds of people turned out for the funeral Mass at the Capuchin Retreat Center compound in the city of Lipa, south of Manila.
Ilagan’s current bishop, David William Antonio, presided over the Mass, with CBCP president Bishop Pablo Virgilio David and retired Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of Lipa among the concelebrants.
“Bishop Joseph may be gone and he has left Isabela, but his spirit is alive,” Bishop Antonio said. “He has been a great help to us in the Diocese of Ilagan, so the memory of Bishop Joseph is alive.”
After the Mass, Bishop Nacua was laid to rest at the Capuchin Cemetery located within the compound.
Bishop Nacua is the only Filipino Capuchin thus far to be ordained to the episcopate.
He served the Ilagan diocese from 2008 until the pope accepted his resignation for health reasons in 2017.
The bishop died on Sept. 10 after two days in a hospital in Lipa, where he was in a coma. He was 77.
The Capuchins described him as a “dedicated educator, formator, minister, and pastor” in his six decades of religious life.
“Now that he has gone ahead of us, may his prayers accompany us in our journey so that we may spend our time devoted to life of charity, witnessing to the Gospel to all we meet,” said OFMCap provincial minister Father Edgar Martinez.
