Diocese of Greensburg priest will return home to the Philippines as bishop
Pope Francis from the Vatican on Sunday tapped a priest from the Philippines who has served in the Diocese of Greensburg to return to his home country and serve as bishop.
The pope appointed Father Medil Sacay Aseo, 63, to be Bishop of the Diocese of Tagum in the Philippines.
“I was shocked to receive the news,” Aseo said in a statement. “I thought I would be here five years, but this is God's call for me. I did not have ambitions to be a bishop. God's grace is sufficient for me in my future role, and I will trust in him.”
Aseo has been in Western Pennsylvania since August, serving as parochial vicar of St. Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, Kittanning, and St. Mary, Mother of God Parish, Yatesboro.
Aseo's ordination date has not been set. The diocese will hold a celebration for him before he leaves.
“It is a great honor for the Diocese of Greensburg to have Pope Francis send a priest serving in Kittanning and Yatesboro back to his home diocese as a bishop,” Greensburg Bishop Edward C. Malesic said in a statement.
Aseo is one of 15 international priests working in the Greensburg Diocese, filling in because of the lack of local clergy.
He was born in Maniki, Kapalong, which is on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, and in the diocese where he will serve as bishop.
Aseo was ordained a priest in 1979 and has served as a parish priest and pastor, spiritual director counseling priests, procurator of Queen of Apostles College Seminary in Tagum, and chaplain to Filipino seafarers at Stella Maris in Liverpool, England.
He was assistant administrator of St. Michael Archangel Parish, La Filipina, Tagum City, in the Philippines before he entered the Greensburg Diocese's International Priests Program. International priests typically serve for five years before returning to their home diocese.
The Greensburg Diocese covers Armstrong, Fayette, Indiana and Westmoreland counties.
Jacob Tierney is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-6646.
