The Muntinlupa City government congratulated Fr. Reynaldo Bunyi Getalado who was appointed by Pope Francis as the new coadjutor bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Rarotonga in Cook Islands.
Getalado, who was born and raised in Muntinlupa, was recognized through Muntinlupa Resolution 2024-445 passed by the City Council and signed recently by Mayor Ruffy Biazon.
Pope Francis (left) with Fr. Reynaldo Bunyi Getalado (Photo from Fr. Getalado's Facebook account)
The Vatican announced Getalado’s appointment last year.
“The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Fr. Reynaldo Bunyi Getalado, M.S.P., until now ecclesiastical superior of the Missio sui iuris of Funafuti in Tuvalu, as coadjutor bishop of Rarotonga, Cook Islands,” the Holy See Press Office said in an announcement.
Getalado was born in 1959 in Muntinlupa and finished secondary education at Muntinlupa National High School.
He graduated with a degree in zoology from the Far Eastern University of Manila in 1979. On Sept .24, 1987, he joined the Missionary Society of the Philippines (MSP). He obtained his bachelor’s degree in theology from the Divine Word Seminary of Tagaytay City in the Philippines.
Getalado was ordained a priest on Aug. 4, 1988.
According to the resolution, “for more than two decades from 1998 to 2023, Fr. Getalado served as a missionary Of various Dioceses in the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and New Zealand.”
“Fr. Getalado was once assigned as Parochial Vicar of the Parish of the Our Lady of the Abandoned, Mandaluyong City Philippines in 2003-2004 and was designated as an Ecclesiastical superior of the Mission Sui Luris Of Funafuti, Tuvalu in 2014,” it added.
It said, “On 08 December 2023, during the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, his Holiness Pope Francis appointed Fr. Reynaldo Bunyi Getalado of the Mission Society of the Philippines as the new Coadjutor Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Rarotonga, Cooks Islands far off New Zealand.”
“The Diocese Of Rarotonga part Of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Suva in Fiji, covers the Cooks Islands, which is a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean connected with New Zealand and has a population of around 14,000 with about 17 percent (17%) of it being Roman Catholics,” it said.
The resolution stated that “his appointment is a reflection of his fruitful journey as an Ecclesiastical Superior missionary, a testament and role model for every faithful Muntinlupeno in the City of Muntinlupa.”
“The Sangguniang Panlungsod is extending its heartfelt congratulations and prosperousness to Fr. Reynaldo Bunyi Getalado for this prestige ointment ad bringing honor not just to Muntinlupa City but to the entire nation,” the resolution added.