Fr. Manny Corcuera appointed as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa

To the Clergy, Religious and the  People of God in the Northern Marianas:

The long awaited day of my retirement has finally come. As I step down from 25 years of shepherding the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa, I wish to express my gratitude to His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, for accepting my resignation. Thus you will notice that the Cathedra (the Bishops chair) will be vacant until the next Bishop is appointed.

I am now free to concentrate on regaining my health and immersing myself in the continuing work of translating the Old Testament into Chamorro.  As this translation will take many years I pray that the Lord will allot me the years, necessary to accomplish the task.

My heart is overwhelmed as I recall the support and encouragement that the Clergy, Religious and the people of the Diocese and so many others have given me in more than three decades of my ministry here in the Northern Marianas. It has truly been a blessed time for me when I pray, as it has been for all of you. In a clich￩ which still carries great meaning, words will never be able to express my indebtedness to each and everyone of you.

Human as I am, I am not perfect. I am aware that there were times when I have not lived up to the high calling of my office, have made hasty and unwise decisions which distressed you and may even have alienated some of you by not giving the support that may have been crucial for your well being, especially in the last few years as my health failed. For these faults, I can only ask your forgiveness. It was always my desire to serve you with unblemished record. But only Our Lord, Jesus Christ, and Mother Mary have lived up to that ideal.

In my retirement, I will continue to live at my residence here on Saipan and hope to be part of your lives as I have been in the past. So, please do not make yourselves strangers to me.

Finally, I urge all of you to give the Very Reverend Father Manuel Corcuera, the Apostolic Administrator, the same personal support and cooperation that you gave me as he takes on the grave responsibility of leading our Diocese in this transitional period between Bishops. He is now the Ordinary of the Diocese. As such, all the rights, privileges and powers of a Local Ordinary reside in him. He is our spiritual and temporal leader. I thank him from my heart for accepting this demanding position.

God bless all of you. You are in my daily prayers and thoughts and remembered in each mass  I  celebrate. And I ask you to do likewise for me. Si yuus maase.



Most Rev. Tomas A. Camacho

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FILE PHOTO. The Very Reverend Father Manuel Reyes Corcuera, appointed as Apostolic Administrator by the Holy See on April 6, 2010, with the Most Rev. Tomas Aguon Camacho, D.D. during the Silver Jubilee celebration of the establishment of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Spa. The Very Reverend Manuel Reyes Corcuera graduated from the Royal and Pontifical University of Sto. Tomas in Manila, Philippines with the degrees of Bachelor in Sacred Theology and Licentiate in Philosophy.  The year before his graduation, on November 28, 1970, he was ordained priest by His Holiness Pope Paul VI together with more than 70 other Asians on the occasion of the first ever visit of the Holy Father to the Philippines.