A bishop based in Ozamiz City who once spoke his piece vocally against illegal gambling has died of cancer, reports the Malindang Herald website.
News of Monsignor Emie Bienes’ death was announced, Dec. 7, by Ozamiz Clergy President Fr. Edgar Canama, who said the 63-year old prelate died in Cebu City last Dec. 4 due to complications of liver cancer.
Bienes is the vicar general of the Ozamiz archdiocese and formerly the parish priest of St. Michael Parish in the neighboring Tangub City.
January, this year, the bishop was suddenly rushed to the hospital after he complained of abdominal pains and blurred vision while in the middle of his homily.
A source from the Bishop’s Palace said then that Bienes once confided he has diabetes which also affected his liver.
“The Catholics of the Archdiocese of Ozamiz have lost a kind and dedicated priest, a good friend and trusted member of the board of consultors,” Canama followed up his brief announcement.
Born on Sept. 3, 1946, Bienes was ordained priest on April 21, 1976. In his early years as a seminarian, Bienes volunteered as one of the teaching staff of St. Mary’s Theologate Seminary in Gango, Ozamiz City.
The late bishop once hogged headlines for his stand against the so-called Small Town Lottery (STL), stating that “gambling breeds laziness and dependence on luck rather than hard work for livelihood.”
The archdiocese will offer a nine-day requiem mass for the vicar general in all parishes and has called on priests and religious to include in their intentions the eternal repose of his soul.
At present, the bishop’s remains lie in state at the St. Michael Archangel Parish in Tangub and will be brought to his hometown in Tudela on Dec. 14, where a concelebrated funeral mass will be held.
He will be interred on the same day at the San Isidro Labrador Catholic Cemetery.
REPORT BY MICHAEL MEDINA
News of Monsignor Emie Bienes’ death was announced, Dec. 7, by Ozamiz Clergy President Fr. Edgar Canama, who said the 63-year old prelate died in Cebu City last Dec. 4 due to complications of liver cancer.
Bienes is the vicar general of the Ozamiz archdiocese and formerly the parish priest of St. Michael Parish in the neighboring Tangub City.
January, this year, the bishop was suddenly rushed to the hospital after he complained of abdominal pains and blurred vision while in the middle of his homily.
A source from the Bishop’s Palace said then that Bienes once confided he has diabetes which also affected his liver.
“The Catholics of the Archdiocese of Ozamiz have lost a kind and dedicated priest, a good friend and trusted member of the board of consultors,” Canama followed up his brief announcement.
Born on Sept. 3, 1946, Bienes was ordained priest on April 21, 1976. In his early years as a seminarian, Bienes volunteered as one of the teaching staff of St. Mary’s Theologate Seminary in Gango, Ozamiz City.
The late bishop once hogged headlines for his stand against the so-called Small Town Lottery (STL), stating that “gambling breeds laziness and dependence on luck rather than hard work for livelihood.”
The archdiocese will offer a nine-day requiem mass for the vicar general in all parishes and has called on priests and religious to include in their intentions the eternal repose of his soul.
At present, the bishop’s remains lie in state at the St. Michael Archangel Parish in Tangub and will be brought to his hometown in Tudela on Dec. 14, where a concelebrated funeral mass will be held.
He will be interred on the same day at the San Isidro Labrador Catholic Cemetery.
REPORT BY MICHAEL MEDINA