Groups upbeat on new Zamboanga bishop’s peace, community initiatives

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Peace advocates here look forward to working with the new Archbishop of Zamboanga on peace building and inter-religious dialogues.

Claretian missionary priest Dante Borringot, who is lead convener of the groups Peace Advocates Zamboanga (PAZ) and Inter-religious Solidarity for Peace (ISP), said Archbishop-elect Julius Tonel has been known as a progressive prelate who strongly supports the basic ecclesial communities of the Catholic Church.

“We welcome him and we congratulate him on his appointment,” Borringot said.

PAZ and ISP gather Catholics, Muslims, Evangelicals and other faiths to advance cultural understanding, tolerance and peace.

On the feast day of St. Mark last April 25, Pope Francis announced Tonel’s appointment as prelate of Zamboanga City, a post that was left vacant after the death of Archbishop Romulo dela Cruz on Dec. 10, 2022 due to a lingering illness.

Bishop Moises Cuevas had since served as its apostolic administrator.

Tonel, 67, is the erstwhile bishop of the Diocese of Ipil in Zamboanga Sibugay province. His installation is yet to be scheduled.

Grace Rebollos, president of the Zamboanga-Basilan Integrated Development Alliance (ZABIDA), hopes that Tonel will give more focus on local communities.

“We hope our bishop has the capacity to inspire our local clergy to engage with people who are vulnerable, to engage with people who are voiceless, and to go beyond the ex-cathedra pronouncement in their homilies so that they are able to embrace the reality of the poor,” Rebollos said.

“While the option of the poor is almost a highly overused word, we would still like to see how that becomes a practice, how that becomes an approach that our clergy can provide efforts more,” Rebollos added.

Ozamiz Archbishop Martin Jumoad noted that Tonel, a liturgist, is “well loved by the people of the Diocese of Ipil. He is fatherly, friendly, and very accommodating.”

A native of Davao City, Tonel was born on August 31, 1956. He studied Philosophy at the Saint Francis Xavier Regional Major Seminary of Mindanao and Theology at the University of Santo Tomas Central Seminary in Manila.

He was ordained priest on April 12, 1980.

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