The Filipino bishops attending a major Vatican meeting offered Mass in memory of Bishop Enrique Macaraeg of Tarlac.
The liturgy took place at a chapel inside the Monastery of St. Benedict in Subiaco, a pilgrimage town located approximately 60 kilometers from Rome, on Oct. 24.
Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara of Pasig, the Vice President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), presided over the Mass.
With him in the Mass were Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, and CBCP president Bishop Pablo Virgilio David.
“His sudden death was a shock to us here in Rome,” Vergara said.
Fr. Rico Ayo of the Archdiocese of Manila, who is helping at the Synod Secretariat, and Fr. William LaRousse, Assistant Secretary General of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), also attended the Mass.
Macaraeg died on Oct. 23 due to cardiac arrest. He was 67 years old.
“The Diocese of Tarlac mourns the sudden death of our bishop. With grief and sadness in our hearts, we ask you to continue to pray for his eternal repose,” the diocese earlier said.
Macaraeg had been the bishop of Tarlac since 2016.
His remains are currently lying in state at San Sebastian Cathedral in the city of Tarlac.
