Claretian priest expelled from Africa, kidnapped in Basilan dies at 97

Fr. Bernardo Blanco —Photo from CBCP News

MANILA, Philippines — A Spanish priest who was kicked out of an African country under a dictatorship and was once kidnapped by a terrorist group in Mindanao died Monday. He was 97.

Fr. Bernardo Blanco, a Claretian priest, died at 1:02 a.m. at Diliman Doctors Hospital. The cause of death was not yet disclosed.

“We humbly ask you to remember him in your prayers,” Claretians was quoted as saying in a CBCP News report.

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Born in the Spanish province of Zamora, he was ordained a Claretian priest in 1953.

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He was then sent to Equatorial Guinea, an oil-rich country in Central Africa, for his first missionary assignment, serving there for 22 years.

However, Blanco was among the 52 foreign priests and 200 foreign nuns expelled during the dictatorship of Francisco Macías Nguema in 1976.

He returned to Spain and waited seven months for a new assignment before being sent to the Philippines in 1977.

He was assigned to Bolong, Zamboanga City, where he dedicated himself to youth ministry and promoting devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, before being assigned to Claretian missions in Basilan to serve as parish priest of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Maluso.

In 1993, extremists affiliated with the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf kidnapped him in Basilan, enduring 49 days in captivity before seizing an opportunity to escape.

A year after this ordeal, he had a brief visit to Rome and Spain before he was appointed spiritual director at the Claretian Seminary in Quezon City. He later served at Claret Theology, first as superior and later as spiritual director.

“His resilience and faith during this ordeal were widely acknowledged,” the congregation said.—Keith Clores, INQUIRER.net trainee