BISHOP LEOPOLDO TUMULAK of the Military Ordinariate of the Philippines died on June 17. He was 72.
Tumulak, who had led the diocese since 2005, passed away at 1:26 p.m. at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said.
He has been in and out of the hospital after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer early this year.
As military ordinariate, he served as an ecclesiastical pastor, serving all military and police personnel, their dependents and civilian employees.
At the time of his death, he was also serving as chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care (ECPPC) of the CBCP.
“It is a sad day for the jail and prison ministry because we lost not only a chairman in our commission, but one who truly is a father to us all,” said Rodolfo Diamante, ECPPC executive secretary.
Diamante added the bishop “has reflected the image of a compassionate God who really cares about his people”.
“Up to his last minute he wanted to spend his remaining days with his flock and spent quality time with them. His life of service will be etched in our hearts. We will never forget him,” he said.
Tumulak also served as the first chairman of the bishops’ Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church from 1996 to 2005.
In 2000 Pope John Paul II appointed him as a consultor to the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, a position he held until 2005.
A native of Santander in Cebu province, Tumulak was ordained priest in March 1971. In January 1987 he was appointed as the auxiliary bishop of Cebu, where he served for five years or until 1992, when he was named the bishop of Tagbilaran.
The Military Ordinariate has about 130 priests, 126 of whom are diocesan clergy, while four are religious.
The Military Ordinariate, through Lt. Col. Harley B. Flores, chancellor of the Armed Forces Chaplain Service, released the following schedule of Tumulak’s wake and interment.
His wake was initially held at the Shrine of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus in Pasay City starting on June 19.
On June 21, at 2 p.m., his body will be transferred from the Shrine of Saint Therese to Saint Ignatius Cathedral in Camp Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, Quezon City. Arrival honors will be held at 3 p.m. and a concelebrated Mass will be presided by Brig. Gen. Tirso A. Dolina, the chief chaplain, at 6 p.m. A necrological service will follow.
On June 22, at 9 a.m., a funeral Mass will be held at the Saint Ignatius Cathedral, followed by departure honors and burial ceremony.
Ecclesiastical rites and interment will be held at the Shrine of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus at 12 noon.