BISHOP Antonio Y. Fortich, Monsignor Victorino Rivas, and St. Ezekiel Moreno -
what do these three guys have in common? They are all priests and had dedicated their lives to God. They are all gone but had left footprints for us to follow. They worked for the poor and the marginalized people of Negros. Bishop Fortich and Msgr. Vic have the same birthday, August 11. Bishop Fortich and St. Ezekiel Moreno are both bishops. Msgr. Vic had served as Apostolic Administrator of Bacolod. There are still many more similarities these three share.
Bishop Antonio Fortich, DD was the third bishop of the Diocese of Bacolod. The dioceses of Kabankalan, San Carlos and Bacolod were once a one big diocese under the authority of one bishop. Bishop Fortich or “Ka Tony” succeeded the seat from Bishop Manuel Yap, DD. It was during his episcopate that the windows of the Catholic Church have opened to let in the winds of change brought about by the 2nd Vatican Council.
Bishop Fortich had a mandate to really focus on working for the liberation of the poor and the marginalized of the diocese. He immediately revitalized the Social Action Center and focused on the plight of the workers, especially the sugarcane farmworkers. The Papal Encyclicals became the thrust of the diocese in dealing with poverty and other social issues. He and the clergy promoted social justice and social equality. He worked for the common welfare and placed fangs on the social concerns of the church. He practiced solidarity with the workers and the poor. He was outspoken as he openly talked about the atrocities and injustices brought by the Marcoses and their cronies.
He was misinterpreted but his motto “INSTA” became an inspiration to all in the church. He was not afraid of speaking up against the government but with respect to the doctrine of the separation of the church and the state. I personally learned from him that the doctrine of the separation must also be read like that when the state clamor about the sermons of the priests, it is also construed as the state meddling with the affairs of the Church. Today, he is remembered as the bishop of the masses.
Msgr. Victorino Rivas, JCD was my mentor for the pastoral assignment I had when I had a regency from the seminary formation in 1988. He was the rector of the San Sebastian Cathedral together with Fr. Genaro Demecais and Fr. Mike Carreon. We often talked at the dining room for hours after lunch and dinner. We talked about everything under the sun. We would discuss social issues and ecclesiastical events and how to respond properly to these issues. He also said that we have to be simple and to be humble and to never boast of ourselves, instead let others talk about what we are doing and not us talking to them about what we do. He taught me the meaning of the liturgy and shared to me the life of a priest. The best thing I always remember with Msgr. Vic was when he told me that wherever we are we should leave a mark. Look at what he had done in the places where he had been assigned.
St. Ezekiel Moreno, an Augustinian Recollect friar saint, had walked on the soils of Negros Occidental, particularly in Talisay. He arrived in Manila in 1870 and finished his Theological formation in Intramuros. He was ordained deacon at the Jaro Cathedral in Iloilo in June of 1870. On June 2, 1871, he was ordained as priest in Manila. He was then assigned in Palawan where he contracted malaria in 1872 and underwent the hydro-therapy of Padre Fernando Cuenca, an Augustinian Recollect friar assigned in Talisay, Negros Occidental.
After his healing, he went to Calapan, Mindoro from 1873 – 1879. He wanted then assigned to Las Pinas, Batangas, Sta. Cruz, and Cavite. In 1882, he assisted his confreres in Bacoor and Imus, Cavite when it was devastated by a deadly cholera. After his missionary work in the Philippines, he was transferred to Monteagudo, Spain as Prior in 1885. In 1889, he was transferred to Casanare in Colombia and in 1896, he was made Bishop of Pasto, Colombia. He died of cancer on August 19, 1906. He was canonized by Pope St. John Paul II in 1992 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He earned the title of Patron Saint of Cancer Survivors. We celebrate his feast on August 19.
St. Ezekiel Moreno, Bishop Fortich, and Msgr. Victorino, pray for us.