POPE LEO XIV has appointed a Thomasian as the new bishop of Kalibo, the Archdiocese of Capiz announced on Saturday, Jan. 24.
Fr. Cyril Buhayan Villareal, 51, will succeed Bishop Jose Tala-oc, who retired on June 16, 2025.
Villareal, a UST Central Seminary alumnus, completed his bachelor’s degree and licentiate in theology at the Faculty of Sacred Theology and obtained a master’s degree in theology from the UST Graduate School in 2000.
“I’m very sure UST has formed me sa academics, in terms of orthodoxy, I have the right doctrines, I understand the right teachings of the church, which until now I would stand with that,” Villareal told the Varsitarian, reflecting on his Thomasian roots.
The dates for his ordination to the episcopate and his installation in the Diocese of Kalibo have yet to be set.
“Iyon lang siguro, at the moment, ‘yon ang pinanghahawakan ko. Ang [magkaroon] ng compassion and wisdom,” he said.
“While I was here in UST, [ang natutuhan ko] ay ‘yong synodality, the way we live among the seminarians during the time of Fr. Frederik Fermin, and precisely because of that, there is synodality, there is listening. In my ministry as a priest, ‘yon din ang ginagawa ko, and I would bring that also when I go to Kalibo,” Villareal told the Varsitarian.
He earned a degree in moral theology from the Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Vienna, Austria, in 2012.
The bishop-elect was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Capiz on March 25, 2001, at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Roxas City.
After completing his elementary in 1987, Villareal began his priestly formation at St. Pius X Seminary in Roxas City.
From 2000 to 2004, he served as a formator, professor, and assistant dean of theology at Sancta Maria Mater et Regina Seminarium.
While pursuing further studies in Vienna, Villareal served as assistant chaplain of the Filipino Catholic Chaplaincy in the Archdiocese of Vienna and as assistant priest at the Parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, ministering to the pastoral needs of Filipino migrants and the local faithful.
Upon returning to the Philippines, he served as vicar general during Cardinal Jose Advincula’s tenure as archbishop and became rector of Colegio de la Purisima Concepcion in Roxas City.
He was elected archdiocesan administrator of Capiz following Advincula’s transfer to the Archdiocese of Manila in June 2021.
He held the post until Archbishop Victor Bendico took possession of the archdiocese in May 2023.
In 2023, Villareal was appointed parish priest of St. Thomas of Villanova Parish in Dao, Capiz, and vicar forane of the Vicariate of St. Thomas of Villanova.
He also serves as chairman of the Commission on Migrants and Itinerant Peoples.
Upon his installation, Villareal will shepherd some 680,000 Catholics in the diocese. With reports from Yuvshenka Andrea R. Osea
