By Gio J. Tanudtanud
ARCHBISHOP Emeritus Fernando Capalla was finally laid to rest at the Dormitium de San Pedro, or the crypt of the San Pedro Cathedral just after noon on Monday, Jan. 15.
The ceremony started with a funeral mass at the cathedral around 10 a.m., officiated by Cardinal Orlando B. Quevedo and Cardinal Jose Advincula. Assisting them were Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles and other prelates.
As the mass began, a biography of the late archbishop was introduced to the parishioners who filled every inch of the cathedral to pay their respects.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte, who had high praise for Capalla, attended the funeral along with former National Defense Secretary Noberto Gonzales, Davao Rep. Isidro Ungab, and senators Ronald Dela Rosa and Christopher Lawrence Go.
During the mass, the Archbishop’s sister, Elisea Capalla, shared her stories about her brother and how she was there during his last moments.
“I was with him from Jan. 3 up to his last breath holding his hand now and then, giving him tender loving care as a nurse,” she said.
Fernando Capalla was born on Nov. 1, 1934, in Leon, Iloilo. He was ordained priest on March 18, 1961, and ordained archbishop on June 18, 1975.
He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Davao City on April 8, 1975, at the age of 40, and later became the Coadjutor Archbishop on June 28, 1994. Archbishop Capalla was also installed as the third Davao archbishop on Nov. 28, 1996, before he was succeeded by Vales.
Capalla passed away at 1:23 a.m. on Jan. 6, 2024.
The funeral rites for the archbishop ended at 1 p.m. and his remains were placed inside the crypt at around 12:30.
According to MindaNews, he was the third archbishop to be buried at the Dormitio de San Pedro after Archbishop Clovis Thibault in 1975 and Archbishop Antonio Mabutas in 1999.
