Teofilo Camomot

Teofilo Bastida Camomot was born on 3 March 1914 in Barangay Cogon, in the municipality of Carcar, Cebu, in the Philippines, the son of Luis Camomot and Angela Bastida. He was baptized the following day and raised in a Catholic household. He entered the seminary in Cebu (the Seminario Menor and later the major seminary of San Carlos) and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Cebu on 14 December 1941 by Archbishop Gabriel Reyes. His early ministry was spent in pastoral assignments in Cebu, where he already became known for simplicity of life and attention to the poor.

On 23 March 1955 Pope Pius XII appointed him titular Bishop of Clysma and Auxiliary Bishop of Jaro in Iloilo. He received episcopal consecration on 29 May 1955. In Jaro he was noted for visiting remote barrios and for giving away personal belongings. On 10 June 1958 he was named Coadjutor Archbishop of Cagayan de Oro, with the titular see of Marcianopolis, and served there alongside Archbishop James Hayes. Kidney illness led him to resign the coadjutorship on 17 June 1970, before he could succeed as ordinary of that see, and he returned to his home archdiocese of Cebu.

Cardinal Julio Rosales assigned him pastoral work in Cebu, including service as a parish priest (notably at Pardo and later in his native Carcar). In later years he resided at the Carmelite monastery in Cogon, Carcar. Although an archbishop, he lived in marked poverty, often giving food, clothing, money, and even items associated with his episcopal office to those in need. Local memory in Cebu preserves many accounts of his charity, long hours of prayer, and alleged mystical phenomena such as bilocation; such reports belong to popular devotion and remain subject to the Church’s judgment.

Camomot died on 27 September 1988 in a road accident in Barangay Sangat, San Fernando, Cebu, while traveling from Carcar. He was seventy-four. A reputation for holiness spread quickly after his death. The Archdiocese of Cebu opened his cause for beatification, and he was named a Servant of God. On 21 May 2020 Pope Francis authorized the decree recognizing his heroic virtues, conferring the title Venerable. He has not been beatified or canonized.