• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Bishop Louie Galbines will be installed as the next bishop of the Diocese of Bacolod this coming Aug. 11.
The 7th Canonical Possession and Solemn Installation, which will be held at the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod City, will be presided over by Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, Most Reverend Charles Brown DD.
Galbines, the outgoing bishop of the Diocese of Kabankalan, will succeed Bishop Patricio Buzon, 76, who already surpassed the mandatory retirement age for a Catholic bishop.
Church law requires bishops to submit their resignation at age 75, subject to papal approval.
Buzon led the Diocese of Bacolod for nearly 10 years. He was previously also the bishop of the Diocese of Kabankalan.
Born in Sagay City, Negros Occidental in 1966, Galbines studied philosophy and theology at the University of Santo Tomas Central Seminary in Manila before his priestly ordination for Bacolod in 1994.
He initially served as deputy dean and spiritual director of Sacred Heart Seminary in Bacolod as well as chancellor and secretary of the diocesan curia.
Galbines later pursued advanced studies in Rome at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, earning licentiate and doctoral degrees in sacred theology in 2001.
Upon returning to the Philippines, he served as a collaborator with the bishops’ conference and later held several diocesan leadership posts, including rector of Sacred Heart Seminary and vicar general of Bacolod.
Pope Francis appointed him bishop of Kabankalan in March 2018.
He was ordained bishop at San Sebastian Cathedral on May 28, 2018, and installed in Kabankalan the following day. | GB with CBCP reports
