Due to health reason
TACLOBAN CITY– Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Emmanuel Trance of Catarman Diocese in Northern Samar on Friday (Dec. 8).
Based on the report of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Trance tendered his resignation five years ahead of the mandatory retirement age of 75 due to ‘health reason.’
The Holy Father named Auxiliary Bishop Nolly Buco of Antipolo as the apostolic administrator of the Catarman diocese.
“Due to health reasons, and the need of the diocese to be led by a healthier and stronger bishop, I have asked the Holy Father to relieve me of the pastoral care of the diocese,” Trance, who is a native of Jaro, Iloilo, said during a Mass on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception Friday (Dec.8) at the Catarman CAs bishop of the Catarman diocese, Trance joined in the fight against environment destruction in the province and was also active in ending the local insurgency problem in Northern Samar.
Governor Edwin Ongchuan led in expressing their gratitude to Trance for serving the faithful in Northern Samar.
“Let us come together in gratitude for the invaluable contributions he has made as our local ordinary here in Northern Samar for nearly two decades, positively impacting numerous lives,” the governor said on his post on his social media account Saturday.
Ordained for the Archdiocese of Jaro in 1978, Trance was appointed coadjutor bishop of Catarman in May 2004. He was ordained to the episcopate on July 22 of the same year.
Trance assumed leadership of the diocese after the retirement of the first bishop of Catarman, the late Angel Hobayan, on March 10, 2005.
Buco, on the other hand, was appointed as the auxiliary bishop of Antipolo in July 2018.
Ordained a priest for Antipolo in 1993, the canon lawyer was consecrated bishop in September 2018. (JOEY A. GABIETA/ROEL T. AMAZONA)
