By EmmaLee Italia, Contributing Editor
With more than 100 priests hailing from his hometown of Bacacay, Philippines, 30-year-old Benedict Bien Quiambao is in good company as he approaches his transitional diaconate ordination. But the call is very much personal to him.
“As far back as I can remember, I have always wanted to become a priest,” he said. “During my kindergarten graduation, we were asked to wear [the garments of] our future profession. I went up to the stage clad in a stole and chasuble.”
“Looking back, that was the coolest superhero costume I have ever worn – superhero of souls!” he said.
Born in Bacacay, Albay, Philippines, to Angelica Bien Mendoza and Beda Mendoza Quiambao, Benedict and his family – including sisters Bernadette, 32, and Mary Angeli, 16, and brother Joseph Bede, 7 – were members of St. Rose of Lima Parish. Benedict attended St. Agnes Academy in Legazpi City for both elementary and high school, graduating in 2012. The following year he entered nearby Mater Salutis College Seminary, where he “grew in his appreciation of and devotion to Jesus and Mary.”
Quiambao spent his freshman year at Bicol University, Legazpi City, studying biology while discerning the priesthood. Transferring to Mater Salutis College Seminary, he earned a bachelor’s degree in classical philosophy in 2018. Further academic efforts included a certificate in teaching from Zamora Memorial College in 2020 and lecturing from 2020-2022 at Bicol University.
He then worked for four years for the Philippines Department of the Interior and Local Government, and for USAID in the Philippines as a research assistant and writer.
“But the Lord had other plans for me,” Quiambao reflected, “and truly, the thought of priesthood never really left me.”
Initially seeing the formation process as a series of milestones, he began to realize that “true discipleship entails dying to oneself,” he said, “a continuous journey to surrender my own desires and to conform myself more fully to the heart of Jesus.”
This fall, Quiambao will graduate with a master of divinity degree and certificate in Hispanic ministry from Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and University, Emmitsburg, Md.
His seminarian summer assignments have included St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Hightstown, and St. Rose Parish, Belmar, as well as assisting at the Diocese’s Canonical Services and Tribunal.
“Leading summer Bible study classes at St. Rose was a highlight of my summer assignment,” he said. “Working with these faith communities has profoundly reshaped my understanding of the Church and the laity’s essential role in the community.”
Vesting him for his diaconate Ordination will be Father Oscar Sumanga, pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Parish. Quiambao’s transitional diaconate year will be spent in Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Moorestown.
“As a transitional deacon, God’s faithfulness will continue to be my anchor,” he said. “Whether I am preaching the Gospel, baptizing a child, or serving at the altar, I understand that I am not the cause of grace, but an instrument and steward of it.”