The Men of St. Ignatius in Bukidnon
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Fr. Mateo Sanchez, SJ
Fr. Mateo Sanchez, SJ's first assignment in Mindanao was to teach at Xavier University's College of Agriculture. Since then, he has also been with XU's extension service team that worked with the farmers of Maramag, Bukidnon during the Martial Law days. He was also assigned as novice master at the Sacred Heart Novitiate for 13 years (1976-1989) and later as spiritual director of St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Cagayan de Oro City. In June 1996, he was assigned to help out then parish priest of Cabanglasan, Bukidnon, Italian Jesuit Missionary, Fr. Ferrucio Leoni.
In the book, Mateo Sanchez, SJ - Glimpses & Gratitude, published in 2018 to honor his 50 years of priestly life and mission, many articles were written about Father Mat including those by Fr. Mars Tan, SJ, incoming President of Xavier University, and Fr. Tony Moreno, SJ, President of Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific.
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Fr. Godofredo Alingal, SJ
June 24, 1922 - April 13, 1981
Born in Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte, Fr. Alingal first joined San Jose Seminary in 1939, then entered the Society of Jesus on May 30, 1940 and was ordained priest on June 21, 1953. He was a scholastic in Ateneo de Naga (1947-1950), then assigned to San Jose parish of Talakag, Bukidnon (1951-1957), later to Linabo, Malaybalay, in 1957, and on to Dangcagan as director of the Santo Niño High School. He returned to Ateneo de Naga in 1962 to teach Religion, English, and Latin, and became its first Filipino High School Principal in 1966-1967. Reassigned to Mindanao to do mission work in Cagayan de Oro, then to Immaculate Conception parish of Kibawe, Bukidnon in 1968, he worked among poor farmers and peasants. He fought for the rights of these farmers against the abuses of Martial Law and its enforcers. For this, he was shot and killed by five unknown assailants in Kibawe on April 13, 1981, Easter Monday.
This profile was reproduced from the commemorative plaque and tribute during the May 2017 inauguration and blessing of the new Fr. Godofredo Alingal SJ Hall, home of the Law School and Library, Ateneo de Naga University in Naga City.
Fr. Vincent Cullen, SJ who shared many years with Fr. Alingal from their early priesthood through their service in the Bukidnon Mission, wrote "A Quiet Man", a memorial tribute to his fellow Jesuit. Also included is the moving funeral piece by Bishop Francisco Claver, SJ, DD, "The Empty Tomb of Kibawe", which lucidly expresses the meaning of Fr. Alingal's life and death.
Bishop Emeritus Honesto C. Pacana, SJ, DD
Born 22 January 1933 - Entered 20 June 1951 - Died 1 February 2024
Bishop Honesto, son of Vicente Pacana and Felisa Chaves, was born and raised in Kauswagan, Cagayan de Oro City. At an early age, he was influenced by the Jesuits to embody the Ignatian values and to go and serve the poor and the marginalized in the peripheries of Mindanao. Bishop Oni finished his secondary education at the Ateneo de Cagayan High School in 1951, during the time of rehabilitation in the aftermath of the Second World War.
He then proceeded to his novitiate and juniorate from 1951 to 1956 at the Sacred Heart Novitiate in Novaliches, Quezon City. He took his bachelor’s degree in Sacred Theology at the Woodstock College in Maryland, USA (1962-1966) and MA in Religious Education at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC (1966-1969). He was ordained a deacon at Woodstock College in May 1965; ordained a priest at the Fordham University Chapel in Bronx, New York by His Eminence Francis Cardinal Spellman DD; and took his final vows at Chapel of Xavier University before Superior General Pedro Arrupe SJ on April 22, 1978.
On January 12, 1994, the Vatican officially named Honesto as the Bishop of Malaybalay. As the church leader in a diverse province, Bishop Oni saw his role as a great opportunity to facilitate interreligious and intercultural dialogues, build peace, and form the lives of the youth.
Before becoming the Bishop of Malaybalay in 1994, he had several Jesuit assignments such as Parish Priest of Maramag and of Malaybalay, Director of San Agustin Institute of Technology in Valencia, Director of the Jesuit Retreat House in Malaybalay, Superior of the Bukidnon Mission District, and Rector of the Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary. In 2010, he retired as the Bishop of Malaybalay but continues to do pastoral and retreat ministry in Bukidnon.
(Reference: Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan, March 28, 2019)