For the past several months, the Catholic Diocese of Rarotonga, Cook Islands, has been preparing for the ordination of Father Reynaldo Bunyi Getalado from the Mission Society of the Philippines (MSP) as the new coadjutor bishop. The ceremony will take place this morning.

The ceremony begins with a 10am mass at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Avarua. The ordination itself will take place during the mass, when the candidate, Fr. Getalado, will be officially presented by the Pope’s representative.

Unfortunately, the Pope’s Apostolic Nuncio, the Pope’s chief diplomatic representative in Aotearoa New Zealand, Novatus Rugambwa, has suffered a stroke and will not be present at the ordination.

Cook Islands News understands his secretary, Father Joshua Bosgti, secretary to the Papal Nuncio in Wellington, will read the “papal bull” letter from Pope Francis.

Fr. Getalado, the coadjutor bishop, will be given an extra chair.

Bishop Paul Donoghue, the retiring head of the diocese, explained a customary tradition in the church. When someone becomes a bishop, they receive a crozier, a staff symbolising the Good Shepherd. However, in the Cook Islands, due to the absence of sheep, a tokotoko is presented instead.

However, the new coadjutor bishop will not be presented his tokotoko because he is not the official leader of the diocese as yet.

The day Bishop Donoghue retires and installs the coadjutor as the Bishop of Rarotonga, he will then be given the chair and tokotoko.

Once the coadjutor bishop is ordained, he will conclude the mass.

Bishops and priests from around the Pacific have arrived for the ordination, as well as Catholics from the Pa Enua.

The Catholic Church has only been in the Cook Islands since 1894, so it has not had a long tradition of local bishops.

In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders and is responsible for teaching the Catholic faith and leading the Catholic community in a particular area, called a diocese.