Who is Elias Ayuban Jr., new Catholic bishop of southern Quezon City?

It is the end of an era at the Diocese of Cubao, the Catholic territory covering southern Quezon City, after Bishop Honesto Ongtioco reached the mandatory retirement age of 75.

Elias Ayuban Jr., a 56-year-old Claretian missionary priest from Parang, Maguindanao del Norte, has been chosen by Pope Francis to succeed Ongtioco. The Vatican announced Ayuban’s appointment on Friday, October 4.

The animated Ongtioco, who is turning 76 on October 17, had been the first and only bishop of Cubao since the diocese was erected on June 28, 2003.

The territory of the Diocese of Cubao — which covers the area from Tandang Sora Avenue and Mactan Street all the way to the south of Quezon City — used to belong to the Archdiocese of Manila.

The Archdiocese of Manila, until two decades ago, was a geographically vast territory that covered the whole of Metro Manila and was led by the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, the politically influential prelate who helped depose dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos. The archdiocese had to be divided, however, due to the booming population and the need for efficient management.

Shortly before Sin retired in November 2003, five new dioceses — including the Diocese of Cubao — were carved out of the Archdiocese of Manila.

The first bishops of the five new dioceses were Teodoro Bacani Jr. (Diocese of Novaliches), Jesse Mercado (Diocese of Parañaque), Honesto Ongtioco (Diocese of Cubao), Deogracias Iñiguez Jr. (Diocese of Kalookan), and Francisco San Diego (Diocese of Pasig). 

The Pampanga-born Ongtioco, before his term ended on Friday, was one of the last two “originals” who still remained in office. The other one, 73-year-old Mercado, is the bishop of Parañaque to this day. 

The 1.4-million-strong Diocese of Cubao, then, is entering the uncharted territory without Ongtioco after 21 years.

Leader of Filipino Claretians 

If his resumé is any indication, however, Ongtioco’s successor is one who can put his own stamp on the Diocese of Cubao.

Born in Maguindanao del Norte on January 1, 1968, Ayuban is known for a mix of missionary work, intellectual competence, and service at the highest levels of the Catholic Church.

At the time of his appointment, Ayuban was the provincial superior or head of the Claretian Missionaries in the Philippines. 

He had been provincial superior of the Filipino Claretians since 2019.

A worldwide congregation founded by Saint Anthony Mary Claret in Spain in 1849, the Claretian Missionaries have been in the Philippines for nearly eight decades and are known for their missionary work in Mindanao, an island group known for its big Muslim population. 

Claretians are also recognized as topnotch educators in the Philippines, running schools such as the prominent Claret School of Quezon City.

More than two decades ago, the work of the Claretians in Mindanao caught the world’s attention after a high-profile case involving a priest who was Ayuban’s contemporary.

Father Rhoel Gallardo, who was held hostage by the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group in Basilan, “was shot in the head, shoulder, and back at close range, after repeatedly refusing to renounce his Catholic faith,” the Catholic News Agency reported. It was later discovered that “nails on his index fingers and toes had been pulled off before he was shot.” 

Gallardo’s martyrdom on May 3, 2000, prompted the Catholic Church in Basilan to push the Claretian priest’s sainthood.

Ayuban, who lived with Gallardo in the seminary for several years (although Ayuban was two years ahead), was the leader of the Filipino Claretians when the cause for Gallardo’s sainthood was launched in Basilan on May 3, 2021 — the 21st anniversary of Gallardo’s death.

Ayuban recounted how Gallardo, instead of renouncing his faith, “stood up for God who was faithful to him until the last drop of his blood,” according to an article by the news service of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).  

“It could have occurred to any of us who were the young missionaries then, but it was given to Father Rhoel because, in hindsight, he was the most prepared to receive the crown,” said Ayuban.

Martyrdom, he noted, is a gift for those “who are worthy in the eyes of God.”

Experience at the Vatican

Ayuban, aside from leading the Claretians in the Philippines, has also been co-chairperson of the Conference of Major Superiors in the Philippines (CMSP), formerly known as the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines.

The CMSP is composed of heads of religious superiors in the Philippines, and has had a long history of sociopolitical involvement, including its opposition to the Marcos dictatorship in the 1970s.

Outside the Philippines, Ayuban was a member of a Vatican office — the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life — from 2012 to 2019. 

He was also a member of the Claretians’ Institutum Iuridicum Claretianum in Rome from 2012 to 2019 and was vicar superior of the Community of Iuridicum from 2013 to 2019. He served in other capacities such as local superior, rector, prefect of formation, and house vicar in his congregation. 

Ordained to the priesthood on March 9, 1996, Ayuban first served as a parish priest at the Church of the Risen Christ in Zamboanga Sibugay, a predominantly Catholic province in Mindanao, from 1996 to 2000. 

He later obtained his doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome (2002 to 2003), served as rector of the Claret Theology House in Quezon City (2004 to 2008), and eventually taught canon law at the University of Santo Tomas and Institute for Consecrated Life Asia in Quezon City, according to his profile on the Vatican website.

Ayuban took up philosophy at Saint Anthony Mary Claret College of Philosophy and studied theology at the Jesuit-run Loyola School of Theology (LST) based in Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City.

Ongtioco, who attended the Jesuit-run San Jose Seminary based in Ateneo, also studied theology at LST.

Outspoken bishop-elect

While he was immersed in academic work, however, Ayuban wrote not only homilies and academic papers, but also editorials and social media posts on sociopolitical issues.

Ahead of the 2022 presidential elections, Ayuban made a number of public Facebook posts supporting then-vice president Leni Robredo, whom many Catholic bishops and priests supported for president, too. When it came to Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the dictator’s son who eventually won as president, his reaction was #NeverAgain.

One of his posts dated April 2, 2022, recounted his experience giving a rosary to Robredo — one that he received from Pope Francis. 

Ayuban described Robredo as “a different kind of ‘politician’” because “astute politicians do not aspire” in the way that leaders and mothers do. “As she moved away from my sight, followed by ardent supporters, I could only utter a prayer in my heart: ‘May our Blessed Mother protect and keep you from all harm!’”

“For this country needs a mother and leader like you more than ever,” he said. 

Years before this, when then-president Rodrigo Duterte called God “stupid,” Ayuban wrote a stinging opinion piece that criticized the Philippine leader.

“In these challenging times, we need to draw the line. When he cursed the Holy Father, we were silent. Now that he calls our God ‘stupid,’ I could not be silenced,” Ayuban wrote in an article published by La Croix International in 2018.

Earlier this year, Ayuban also criticized the proposal to legalize divorce in the Philippines in an opinion piece published by CBCP News.

“Legalizing divorce will not minimize our woes as a Church and nation. It will only augment them. It may offer relief to struggling couples but will undeniably cause untold suffering to the young whom our Holy Father calls ‘the present and future of the Church,’” Ayuban wrote.

In the same way that Ongtioco became one of the country’s most well-known bishops, Ayuban’s new role as bishop of Cubao will give him a new space to reach millions of Catholics — in Quezon City and beyond. – Rappler.com