One month after his ordination as coadjutor bishop of Rarotonga Diocese in the Cook Islands, Bishop Reynaldo Bunyi Getalado MSP expressed his aspiration to “spiritually nourish” the people of God in the Pacific nation. Source: CNA.
Bishop Getalado’s episcopal ordination occurred at St Joseph’s Cathedral in the Cook Islands’ capital city, Avarua, on April 27. The current bishop of the Cook Islands, Bishop Paul Donoghue was the principal consecrator.
Together with the passionate singing of hymns in Cook Islands’ Māori, English, Fijian (iTaukei), and Filipino at Bishop Getalado’s ordination Mass, several lay men, women, and clergy also wore traditional neck garlands, called Ei Kaki, as a symbol of welcoming, love, and belonging in a community.
“My hope is to look after the sheep of God in Cook Islands, spiritually nourish them, organise the diocese, and develop a good harmonious relationship with my priests in the diocese,” Bishop Getalado told CNA.
Fr Reginaldo Lavilla, the head of the Mission Society of the Philippines (MSP) to which Bishop Getalado belongs, was also present at the ordination.
“The MSP priests and our own bishop [Getalado] will hopefully be instruments of renewal in the Church and carry the light of Jesus Christ to continue to give hope to the people by their witness of life and their words of preaching,” Fr Lavilla said.
The Cook Islands is a predominantly Protestant country, with 17 per cent of the population (approximately 2,900 people) Catholic.
Bishop Getalado is the first bishop in the Cook Islands of Asian origin. His predecessors were from France, Belgium, the Netherlands and New Zealand.
FULL STORY
New Filipino bishop of the Pacific’s Cook Islands hopes to ‘spiritually nourish’ his people (By Kristina Millare, CNA)
