• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, Charles Brown, will preside over the solemn installation of Louie Galbines as the new bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bacolod on August 11.
The 7th Canonical Possession and Solemn Installation will take place at the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod City.
Galbines, currently the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kabankalan, will succeed Patricio Buzon, who has surpassed the mandatory retirement age for Catholic bishops.
Under Church law, bishops are required to submit their resignation upon reaching the age of 75, subject to approval by the Pope. Buzon, now 76, served the Diocese of Bacolod for nearly a decade. Before his appointment to Bacolod, he also served as bishop of Kabankalan.
A member of the Salesians of St. John Bosco, Buzon was ordained priest in 1976 and has spent 23 years in the episcopal ministry, including 13 years as bishop of Kabankalan.
Galbines was born in Aliwanag, Sagay City, in 1966. He studied philosophy and theology at the University of Santo Tomas Central Seminary before being ordained priest for the Diocese of Bacolod in 1994.
In his early years of ministry, Galbines served as deputy dean and spiritual director of Sacred Heart Seminary in Bacolod, while also holding positions as chancellor and secretary of the diocesan curia.
He later pursued advanced theological studies in Rome at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, where he earned licentiate and doctoral degrees in sacred theology in 2001.
After returning to the Philippines, Galbines worked closely with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines and later held key leadership positions in the Diocese of Bacolod, including rector of Sacred Heart Seminary and vicar general.
In March 2018, Pope Francis appointed him bishop of Kabankalan. He was ordained bishop at San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod City on May 28, 2018, and formally installed in Kabankalan a day later.* with CBCP reports
