Filipino Catholics are mourning the country’s first and only Capuchin Franciscan Bishop Joseph Benedict Amangi Nacua who is hailed as a dedicated educator, formator, minister, and pastor.
The 77-year-old former bishop of Ilagan diocese in Isabela province died in a hospital in Lipa City in Batangas province, south of the capital Manila on Sept. 10, the Filipino Capuchins said in a statement.
His death comes about five years after he resigned as bishop due to health reasons. He reportedly suffered a stroke in 2015 and then recovered.
Nacua served Isabela province as a bishop for nine years until he resigned in 2017, according to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). In 2019, he moved to the friary of the Padre Pio Fraternity in Lipa.
He was rushed to hospital on Sept. 8 with acute respiratory ailments where he slipped into a coma and died two days later.
“In his six decades of religious life, he was a dedicated educator, formator, minister, and pastor. He was the only Filipino Capuchin thus far to be ordained to the episcopate,” the Capuchins said.
Nacua was born in Mankayan, a town in Benquet province, north of Manila on Jan. 5, 1945.
He took on the religious name Simplicius de Lepanto when he entered the Capuchin novitiate on May 17, 1962. He first professed Capuchin life on May 18, 1963, and made his solemn and perpetual profession in Pamplona, Spain on Sept 16, 1967.
He was ordained a deacon in Imus, Cavite in 1971 and ordained a priest in General Santos City later that year.
He served as a rector of Our Lady of Lourdes Seminary in Lipa city twice, director of novices for two terms, and director of the Franciscan Institute for Asia. He was a Provincial Minister and General Definitor for the Capuchins and served as a parish priest.
Ordained a bishop on Aug. 19, 2008, in Ipil, Zamboanga-Sibugay, he was installed in Ilagan diocese on Sept. 9 of the same year.
Fellow Filipino bishops and parishioners he served paid tribute to Bishop Nacua.
Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan diocese, president of the CBCP, asked for prayers for the eternal rest of Bishop Nacua.
“May our brother Bishop, the Most Rev. Joseph Nacua, OFM Cap, Rest in Peace. Amen,” Bishop David posted on Facebook with a photo of the late bishop.
Father Greyie Uanan, a priest from Ilagan diocese who served as a chancellor under Bishop Nacua, also paid tribute to the bishop.
“Rest in Peace, our death Bishop Emeritus, Most Rev. Joseph A. Nacua. Thank you for shepherding the diocese of Ilagan. On a personal note, I thank you for having entrusted to me the offices of Chancellor, Economus, and Judicial Vicar during your incumbency as our Local Ordinary. It has been my pleasure to serve you,” Father Uanan said.
Dennis Sanchez, a Catholic from General Santos parish, recalled how the bishop became an exemplar of simplicity despite his position in the Catholic Church hierarchy.
“Not once did Bishop Nacua make us feel that he deserved special treatment because he was our bishop. It was very clear to him that he was religious, and he professed the perpetual vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience… They could still be seen in him even when he became bishop,” Sanchez told UCA News.
He also recalled how the prelate took time out to be with the poor and local people.
“He was always ready to listen to the concerns of the poor in his diocese. I believe this was not only the mark of a good Capuchin. It was the mark of a good pastor,” Sanchez added.