Bishop holds art exhibit to build home for elderly priests

Pagadian Bishop Emmanuel Cabajar. Photo from https://www.cbcponline.net

MANILA—Aiming to raise funds for the construction of a home for elderly priests, a Catholic bishop is putting up a nearly month-long exhibit of his paintings.

Titled  “A Missionary’s Art Journey 3,” the exhibit of Pagadian Bishop Emmanuel Cabajar, a Redemptorist, will be held until Nov. 26 at the Bishop’s House in Pagadian City.

In an article posted on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines website, Cabajar said that aside from promoting art  appreciation, the exhibit aims to raise funds for the building of the Clergy House in the Diocese of Pagadian.

The proceeds, he said, will also be used to continue the construction of the Diocesan Pastoral Center.

This is the third time that the bishop has staged an exhibit. His previous exhibits were both held in Cebu City in 1998 and 2004.

Cabajar encouraged the public “not just to view the paints as a possible nice decoration, not to view its financial values, but to imbibe its significance, its essential and human values.”

“The temperament and insights of the viewers make an art something more pleasant,” Cabajar said. “Beauty is not only in the eye of the beholder, but as well as its meaning.”

As a missionary, the 71-year-old bishop has long been using painting as medium to proclaim the Good News.

Many of his works depict mission scenes in many areas of Mindanao where he spent most of his missionary years.

“Since my early days of priestly formation, I have always been interested in finding beauty in God’s creation. Discovering the God-given gift of the visual art, I tried to develop it and put it to pastoral use,” said Cabajar.

“While others use words, I use figures and forms to communicate a message or an insight. Inspirations for these portraits sprung from the Word of God and my long missionary experience with people over the years,” he said.