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| Bishop Antonino Nepomuceno, OMI, DD |
Bishop Nepomuceno or simply Tony to his friends was born on June 13, 1925 in Bustos, Bulacan. He entered San Jose Seminary at an early age. At the seminary, he met Fr. Joseph Boyd, OMI and through him got to know about the mission of the Oblates in Cotabato and Sulu. He was attracted to the Oblate Missionary life and later joined the Oblates.
Tony was sent to Texas for his novitiate and scholasticate. He made his first vows in 1948, and his perpetual vows in 1951. in his fourth year of Theology, he was ordained priest (July 10, 1953), and came home to the Philippines on July 10, 1954 to begin his missionary life in Mindanao.
His early ministry was in the parishes of Cotabato and Grace Park. His outstanding characteristics were noted during his stint in parish priest of Kidapawan. He was, indeed, an exemplary pastor that when the OMI Province and the Prelature of Cotabato was looking for a Filipino Auxillary Bishop, his name was immediately submitted to the Holy See for appointment. Thus, he became the first Filipino Oblate Bishop on August 31, 1969.
After his appointment as auxillary Bishop of Cotabato, he was given the task to organize the Notre Dame Social Action. This was the period when the Catholic Church was beginning to get involved in development. His dynamic leadership and his firm commitment to the poor transformed the Notre Dame Social Action ministry into one of the most active in the whole Philippines.
With religious and lay co-workers, the Social Action ministry reached practically every nook and corner of the Prelature. His pioneering and innovative approach to Social Action put him in the limelight not only in the Prelature nut also in the whole Mindanao and entire Philippines.
His work among the poor and the oppressed went into difficult times during the Martial Law period. He was a lone voice in the whole Prelature in denouncing the abuses of the Marcos regime. While many church leaders adopted a critical collaboration stance (which actually was more collaborator than critical), Bishop Tony was firm in his struggle for justice and freedom of our people.
His commitment to the poor and the oppressed cost him a great deal. People who were for the status quo labeled him “leftist”, or at times “communist”.
It was a difficult time. He chose the unpopular and painful struggle, the cause of the poor and the oppressed. While many church authorities were collaborating with Marcos, and receiving all praises from all sides, Bishop Tony was being subjected to all kinds of black propaganda. Sad to say, some of his confreres both in episcopate and the priesthood had lent themselves as tools in assailing Bishop Tony’s commitment to poor and the oppressed. Ecclesiastical pressures (from the “balimbinmg sectors) were put on him. When he could no longer stomach the insidious intrigues, he announced his retirement on November 11, 1979 as Auxiliary Bishop of Cotabato.
After his retirement he worked as Director for the Communications Foundation of Asia under Fr. Lagerway, MSC. In this position, he was able to continue his commitment to the development of the poor and his struggle for freedom and democracy.
Another outstanding labor of Bishop Tony was his commitment to Muslim-Christian understanding. Together with Ustadz Omar Bajunaid, he organized the Christian Clergy (Catholic and Protestants) and the Muslim religious leaders. This organization was effective not only in paving the way for reconciliation and understanding, but also in giving protection for the people who were harassed, imprisoned, and salvaged during the Martial Law years.
The other strong passion of Bishop Tony was the ouster of the US Bases in the Philippines and his commitment to Nuclear Free Philippines. He would be present in major rallies against US Bases and his presence would, in many ways, ‘provide’ the ‘semblance’ that the Church, was present there in the struggle of the Filipino people against colonial vestiges like the military bases.
Bishop Tony lived in the OMI Community at the OMI Regional house in Manila. For his pastoral work, he was always available to help at Bagong Barrio, the OMI squatter parish, in Greater Manila area. He was very active in his struggle fro a Nuclear-free Philippines. His commitment to the poor and oppressed remains his ardent passion as Oblate, a veritable missionary of the poor and the most abandoned.
With his brother OMI’s from Manila, they went to Jolo for the funeral of the martyred Bishop Benjamin de Jesus, OMI. After the funeral on the 14th February 1997, instead of taking his flight the day after as scheduled, he managed to get a flight in a small place on the afternoon of the same day. That plane took off but failed to gain steam and crashed landed against coconut tress few kilometers from the end of the runaway in Jolo Airport.
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