A THOMASIAN cleric who held multiple positions at the Diocese of Romblon died on Friday, June 23. He was 49.
The death of Fr. Raoul Denobo, the No. 2 cleric at St. Joseph Cathedral Parish in Romblon, which the National Museum declared a national cultural treasure in 2001, was announced by the diocese on its Facebook page.
Denobo suffered from complications of diabetes, Fr. Romnick Sagun, the parish priest of Our Lady of Candles in Odiongan, Romblon, told the Varsitarian.
“Too young to die… a Tomasino priest!” Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos, Negros Occidental, wrote in a Facebook post.
Denobo served as judicial vicar of the diocesan curia, or the governing body of the diocese, according to the Catholic directory of the Claretian Communications Foundation.
He was also given a seat on the Diocese of Romblon’s presbyteral council and board of consultors.
Denobo chaired the Romblon see’s canon law committee.
Msgr. Jing Baldo, episcopal vicar at the Diocese of San Carlos, described the Romblon-based cleric as a “silent doer and a deep analytical thinker.”
“He was always seen with his pocketbooks. He loved to read and [was] very articulate,” Baldo said.
Denobo pursued canon law, philosophy and theology at the UST Central Seminary over a nine-year period.
A funeral service will be offered on Saturday, July 1, at St. Joseph Cathedral before his internment at the Romblon Cemetery. Angeli Ruth R. Acosta with reports from Justin Benedict T. Lim