Archbishop Adolfo Tito C. Yllana, DD, the Apostolic Nuncio to Israel and Cyprus and Apostolic Delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine, marked the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood on Thursday, Sept. 29.
He celebrated a Solemn Thanksgiving Mass at the Chapel of the Carmelite Monastery in Concepcion Pequeña, Naga City.
During the Mass, Yllana gave thanks to God for his priestly vocation “and for the call to be His minister, unworthy as I am."
Priests, he said, are entrusted with an “extraordinary, sublime, and supernatural ministry”— proclaiming the Gospel, celebrating the divine mysteries, and administering the sacraments to the faithful.
“The priestly ministry is undeserved gift for which I will never cease thanking the good Lord,” CBCP News quoted the 74-year old Yllana.
Born in Naga, he received his priestly ordination from the hands of the late Archbishop Teofisto Alberto on March 19, 1972, and was incardinated in the Archdiocese of Caceres.
As a young priest, he took further studies at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, where he graduated Doctor juris utriusque (Doctor of Both Laws).
After completing his studies at the Ecclesiastical Academy in 1984, he entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See, and served at pontifical representations in Ghana, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Lebanon, Hungary and Taiwan.
In December 2001, Pope John Paul II appointed him apostolic nuncio to Papua New Guinea and consecrated him bishop on January 6, 2002 in St. Peter’s Basilica. Subsequently, he entrusted him with the leadership of the nunciature in the Solomon Islands.
Pope Benedict XVI named him apostolic nuncio to Pakistan in 2006 and to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2010.
In February 2015, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Yllana apostolic nuncio to Australia, a post he served until he was transferred to Israel in June 2021.