Arizona bishop says Mass at MMCB

Most Rev. Gerald F. Kicanas, Bishop of Tucson (Arizona), celebrated a Eu¬charistic liturgy at the Ma¬nila Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica (MMCB) last May 20 in the regularly scheduled noontime Mass for weekday attendees.

The American bishop was in the country “to ordain one of our seminarians in Cebu City” and had intentionally included in his itinerary the holding of a Mass at the historic MMCB, inform¬ing the Cathedral-Basilica Rector Msgr. Nestor Cerbo about the plan as early as December last year.

Before the Mass, Bishop Kicanas paid respect to the tomb of the late Ma¬nila Archbishop Jaime L. Cardinal Sin beneath the main altar of the Cathedral-Basilica.
Bishop Kicanas was born on Aug. 18, 1941 in Chicago, Illonois, and was ordained priest on April 27, 1967. In January 1995, he was appointed Aux¬iliary Bishop of Chicago, concurrent with his appointment as Titular Bishop of Bela.

In 2001, he was installed Coadjutor Bishop of Tucson, Arizona, and in 2003 he became the Bishop of the said diocese.