NEW BISHOP OF TANDAG. Bishop-elect Raul Dael of the Diocese of Tandag. Photo courtesy of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro.
Pope Francis has named Fr Raul Dael, episcopal vicar for clergy of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro, on Monday, February 26, as the new Bishop of Tandag in Surigao del Sur, following the resignation of Bishop Nereo Odchimar.
Dael studied AB Philosophy (1984-1988) at Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan and MA in Theology at Saint John Vianney Seminary in Cagayan de Oro City.
Bishop-elect Dael was born on October 10, 1966 in Jasaan, Misamis Oriental.
In June 1993, at the age of 27, he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro and began his ministry as parochial vicar of the city's Saint Augustine Metropolitan Cathedral. In 1995, he was assigned as parochial administrator of St Peter the Apostle parish in Sugbongcon, Misamis Oriental.
In 2000, Dael obtained a Licentiate in Theology at the Loyola School of Theology of the Ateneo de Manila University. After his three-year graduate studies (1997-2000), he returned to the "City of Golden Friendship" to serve as professor and director of spiritual and pastoral formation at St John Vianney Seminary of Theology.
From 2003 to 2009, Dael studied spirituality at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and upon his return to the Philippines, he taught pastoral theology at St John Vianney Seminary once again.
Prior to his election as bishop, he was the vicar for clergy for the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro, the first archdiocese in Mindanao.
Dael's predecessor Bishop Odchimar had resigned after reaching the mandatory age of retirement (he is now 77). Odchimar served in the Diocese of Tandag for almost 17 years. From 2009 to 2011, he served as president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
While waiting for Dael's episcopal ordination, Odchimar will remain as the bishop of the diocese in an interim capacity.
The Diocese of Tandag, one of the suffragans of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro, was established on June 16, 1978, bearing Saint Nicholas of Tolentino as their patron.∎