CBCP mourns deaths of 2 ex-bishops on same day

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) mourned on Thursday the passing of two retired bishops who died only two hours apart.

CBCP Bishop Emeritus Nereo Odchimar, 83, who was also a former president of CBCP, died at 10:27 a.m. in San Pedro Hospital in Davao City, after a long battle with diabetes and kidney complications.

“He died of metabolic encephalopathy due to end-stage renal disease and diabetic nephropathy,” the diocese said in a statement.

He served the Diocese of Tandag for around 16 years until his retirement in 2018.

Meanwhile, Bishop Honesto “Onie” Pacana, 91, died at 12:33 p.m. on the same day at Maria Reyna Xavier University Hospital in Cagayan de Oro City, where he had been admitted for a couple of days.

He served the Diocese of Malaybalay for nearly 16 years until his retirement in February 2010.

According to the Tandag diocese, Odchimar “extended the work of evangelization by creating mission stations, devotional chapel, quasi-parishes and parishes, and conducting pastoral visits reaching the far-flung areas of the diocese.”

Church reformer

As bishop, he began implementing the financial management system of the diocese and also initiated the construction of the new San Nicolas de Tolentino Cathedral.

Odchimar was the 18th CBCP president, serving from 2009 to 2011. He was also the chair of its Episcopal Commission on Canon Law.

Meanwhile, Pacana served as the first chair of the CBCP’s Episcopal Commission on Culture, established in 1994.

Odchimar and Pacana were the third and fourth Filipino bishops to die this year. Bishop Ronald Lunas of Pagadian died on Jan. 2, and Archbishop Emeritus Fernando Capalla of Davao died on Jan. 6.