Edwin Angot de la Peña, M.S.P. (born April 5, 1954) is a Filipino

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the

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, currently serving as the

Prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of Prelature of Marawi since 2000.

Early life and education

Edwin de la Peña was born on April 5, 1954, in Tambisan, San Juan, Siquijor,

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. He complete elementary education at Siquijor Central Elementary School. He began his seminary formation in 1968 at the

Mission Society of the Philippines The Mission Society of the Philippines (MSP) is a society of apostolic life of the Latin Catholic Church. Overview It was established by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) – the country's episcopal body – in 1965 as ...

's minor seminary in Tayud,

Consolacion, Cebu Consolacion, officially the Municipality of Consolacion (; ), is a municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 148,012 people. Consolacion is bordered on the north by the town of ...

until its closure in 1971 and finished it in St. Joseph Seminary in

Dumaguete Dumaguete, officially the City of Dumaguete (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Negros Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it h ...

from 1971 to 1972. He pursued his philosophical studies at the

San Carlos Seminary The Royal and Conciliar San Carlos Seminary is the archdiocesan seminary of the Archdiocese of Manila. It was established in the year 1702, by decree of King Philip V of Spain. At present, the institution houses seminarians belonging to various ...

in Cebu from 1972 to 1976 and theological studies at the

Divine Word Seminary The Divine Word Seminary Tagaytay (DWST) is a Roman Catholic mission seminary located in Tagaytay City, Philippines. Established in 1933, the seminary is owned and administered by the Society of the Divine Word (Latin: ''Societas Verbi Divini' ...

Tagaytay City Tagaytay (), officially the City of Tagaytay (), is a component city in the province of Cavite, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 85,330 people. It is one of the country's most popular destinations for domestic ...

from 1976 to 1981. He later obtained a licentiate in spiritual theology from the

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

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from 1996 to 1998.

Priesthood

De la Peña was ordained a priest on April 22, 1981. Following his ordination, he served in various capacities within the MSP and in different mission areas. Initially assigned to Marawi to immerse himself in Muslim culture, he later became the acting rector of the Fil-Mission Seminary in

. In 1983, he was elected as the first Supreme Moderator of the MSP, a position he held until 1988. His long-held aspiration for cross-cultural mission work was realized when he was assigned to the Archdiocese of Port Moresby in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

, where he served from 1989 to 1995.

Episcopal ministry

On June 23, 2000,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

appointed de la Peña as the Prelate of Marawi. He was installed on August 12, 2001. On October 22, 2001, he was elevated bishop by Pope John Paul II, and his episcopal ordination took place on December 27, 2001, at Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Ozamis with Archbishop Antonio Franco serving as the principal consecrator. During the Marawi siege in 2017, he played a significant role in calling for peace and in the relief efforts for both Christian and Muslim residents displaced by the conflict. The siege led to the destruction of key church infrastructures, including the St. Mary's Cathedral in Marawi. De la Peña has been at the forefront of efforts to rebuild the Christian presence in the city. Within

Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (abbreviated as CBCP) is the permanent organizational assembly of the Catholic bishops of the Philippines exercising together certain pastoral offices for the Christian faithful of their terr ...

(CBCP), he has been the chairman of the Commission on Mission from 2003 to 2013 and the Commission on Interreligious Dialogue since 2019.

References

External links

Edwin A. de la Peña at Catholic-Hierarchy
{{DEFAULTSORT:de la Peña, Edwin Angot 1954 births Living people People from Siquijor Roman Catholic bishops in the Philippines Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II Roman Catholic bishops of Marawi 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Philippines