Background
Capalla, Fernando R. was born on November 1, 1934 in Leon, Phillipines.
archbishop bishop Catholic priest
Capalla, Fernando R. was born on November 1, 1934 in Leon, Phillipines.
He was succeeded by Romulo Valles as archbishop of Davao on February 11, 2012. The young Fernando started education from Leon Central Elementary School in his hometown. He took his secondary schooling at Colegio de San Agustin in Iloilo City.
His seminary years began at the Saint Vincent Ferrer Seminary in Jaro, Iloilo City from 1950-1961.
He took further studies from Saint John"s University in New York, United States of America in 1967, earning an Master of Arts in English Literature. He was ordained priest on March 18, 1961 at the age of 26 as a diocesan priest of the Archdiocese of Jaro.
He was appointed as auxiliary bishop of Davao on April 2, 1975 at the age of 40. He was also appointed as titular bishop of Grumentum on that same date.
On April 25, 1977 he was appointed as bishop-prelate of Iligan City in Lanao del Norte province and subsequently appointed as bishop on November 15, 1982 when it was raised to a full-fledged diocese.
In 1987, Pope John Paul II appointed him Apostolic Administrator of the newly created Prelature of Saint Mary"s in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur. He became the Coadjutor on June 28, 1994. He was formally installed to lead the archdiocese as its third archbishop and metropolitan in November 28, 1996.
At 76 years of age, he is still the, even though he has reached the mandatory retirement age of 75, pending the selection of his successor by the Pope.
He served as President of the Catholic Bishops" Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) for one term, from December 2003 to December 2005. Archbishop Capalla was succeeded by Zamboanga Archbishop Romulo Valles as Primate of Davao.
Archbishop Capalla is a Council Member of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conference (FABC) and is one of the Founders/Convenors of the Bishops-Ulama Conference. Foreign over a decade now, he has been a Member of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.