By Catholic News Service • Posted April 10, 2018

GREENSBURG, Pa. (CNS) — Father Medil Sacay Aseo, 63, a priest from the Philippines who is serving in the Diocese of Greensburg’s International Priests Program, has been appointed bishop of the Diocese of Tagum in the Philippines by Pope Francis.

The appointment was announced at the Vatican April 7.

Bishop-designate Aseo, who arrived in the Diocese of Greensburg in August 2017, has served as parochial vicar of St. Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, in Kittanning and St. Mary, Mother of God Parish, in Yatesboro since Sept. 20, 2017.

Greensburg Bishop Edward C. Malesic said he was excited for Bishop-designate Aseo and happy for the people of the Diocese of Tagum. “It is a great honor for the Diocese of Greensburg to have Pope Francis send a priest serving in Kittanning and Yatesboro back to his home diocese as a bishop,” he said.

Bishop-designate Aseo, who lives at St. Mary, Mother of God Parish, said he is indebted to the Diocese of Greensburg.

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“I was shocked to receive the news,” he said. “I thought I would be here five years, but this is God’s call for me. I did not have ambitions to be a bishop. God’s grace is sufficient for me in my future role, and I will trust in him.”

Bishop-designate Aseo’s ordination date has not been set. The Diocese of Greensburg will host a celebration for him before he returns to the Philippines. That date has not been set.

Bishop-designate Aseo was born June 28, 1954, in Maniki, Kapalong, which is in the Diocese of Tagum on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.

He graduated from St. Francis Xavier Regional Major Seminary of Mindanao in 1979 and was ordained a priest April 4, 1979, in his home parish in Maniki.

Bishop-designate Aseo has served as a parish priest and pastor, spiritual director counseling priests, procurator of Queen of Apostles College Seminary in Tagum, and chaplain to Filipino seafarers at Stella Maris in Liverpool, England.

He was assistant administrator of St. Michael Archangel Parish, La Filipina, in Tagum City, with the permission of his bishop, he entered the International Priests Program in the Diocese of Greensburg.

Bishop-designate Aseo is one of 15 international priests providing ministry and pastoral leadership in the Diocese of Greensburg. The international priests serve in the diocese for five years before returning to their home diocese.

“The entire Diocese of Greensburg pledges our prayers for Bishop-elect Aseo and the people of the Diocese of Tagum,” Bishop Malesic said.