• CHERYL G. CRUZ
There will be temporary road closures and suspension of classes in Catholic schools in Bacolod City for certain hours today and tomorrow, as the Diocese of Bacolod welcomes its 7th bishop, Most Rev. Louie Galbines.
Gonzaga, Gatuslao, and Rizal streets will be closed to vehicular traffic from 3-6 this afternoon, Aug. 10, for the welcoming rites for Galbines, who will be escorted from the Kabankalan Diocese, and expected to arrive in Bacolod at around 4:30 p.m.
Galo, Gatuslao, San Juan, Rizal, and Gonzaga streets, meanwhile, will be temporarily closed from 6 a.m. to 12 noon on Aug. 11, for the canonical possession and installation of Galbines at the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod, the principal church of the Diocese.
He will be installed by Archbishop Charles John Brown, apostolic nuncio to the Philippines.
The University of St. La Salle, University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos, and Colegio San Agustin-Bacolod have announced that afternoon classes today and tomorrow morning are suspended, to join in the diocesan celebration.
St. Scholastica’s Academy of Bacolod City also suspended classes this afternoon, and will shift to asynchronous classes tomorrow.
The CSAB said Aug. 9 that these class suspensions “are intended to provide members of the CSAB academic community an opportunity to participate in the various activities and ecclesial celebrations organized by the Diocese in welcoming our new shepherd.”
“As an Augustinian community, we join our brothers and sisters in the Diocese in this moment of joy and thanksgiving, praying that the Lord may bless our new Bishop with wisdom, strength, and grace as he begins his ministry among the people of Bacolod,” the CSAB said in an advisory.
The canonical installation of Galbines, 59, who was born in Sagay and raised in Bago, will be witnessed by around 39 bishops and some 200 priests, led by Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula, who will be the homilist during the solemn ceremony.
Galbines was appointed May 14 by Pope Leo XIV to succeed Bishop Patricio Buzon.
Buzon, 76, serves as the apostolic administrator of the Bacolod Diocese, following his retirement. He led the Diocese for nearly 10 years. | CGC
