CABANATUAN CITY — The Catholic community in the Diocese of Cabanatuan lost a 61-year-old priest to illnesses related to the coronavirus disease.
In a notice of death, Bishop Sofronio Bancud said that Fr. Gregorio Andaya de Guzman, Jr. died at about 6:30 a.m. Friday “due to complications brought about by Covid-19.”
De Guzman, who was known to the faithful as Fr. Goyo or Grogee, was a member of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament and until his passing the pastor of St. John Marie Vianney Parish in Adorable, San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija.
Born on March 20, 1960 to Gregorio de Guzman, Sr. and the former Cecilia Andaya, in Malvar, Batangas, Fr. Goyo finished his Bachelor’s Degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila in 1984 and entered the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament as postulant in June 1987.
He took his perpetual profession on May 28, 1994 and was ordered deacon by Jaime Cardinal Sin on Oct. 22 of that same year. He was ordained to the priesthood also by Cardinal Sin in Sta. Cruz, Manila on May 1, 1995.
He was assigned in the Archdiocese of Davao; Hilo in the Diocese of Honolulu in Hawaii; Sta. Cruz in the Diocese of Manila; and Tacloban in the Archdiocese of Palo. In January 2015, he was appointed parish priest of St. John Marie Vianney in Adorable, San Leonardo.
“He was known to be diligent and zealous pastor who brought the people entrusted to his care closer to the Eucharistic Lord,” Bancud said in his notice.
The bishop said details on the wake and the funeral will soon be announced as he called on the faithful to offer Masses and prayers for de Guzman.
Meanwhile, the number of active Covid-19 cases in Nueva Ecija rose to 2,360 as of Sep. 16, from 2,238 on Sep. 13, according to the Nueva Ecija inter-agency task force.
