Francisco Claver

Who was Francisco Claver?

Francisco F. Claver, S.J. was a Filipino Jesuit priest, appointed and consecrated first bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Malaybalay in the Philippines.

Claver completed a masters degree in Anthropology in the Ateneo de Manila and finished his doctorate in the University of Colorado. Ordained to the priesthood on 18 June 1961, he was appointed as the bishop of what is now the Malaybalay Diocese on 18 June 1969 and was consecrated on 22 August 1969. Claver resigned in 1984, but was appointed Apostolic Vicar of the inchoate Vicariate Apostolic of Bontac-Lagawe, Philippines retiring on 15 April 2004.

Bishop Francisco F. Claver "Ikoy" was born in the province of Bontoc, Mountain Province and was one of the most influential people of the Cordilleras who stood by Human Rights and was a foe to the martial law regime.

His ecclesiology emphasizes the importance of a participatory Church that is necessary in carrying out the aggiornamento called for by the Second Vatican Council. For him, the Basic Ecclesial Communities or the Basic Christian Communities are the primary and particular embodiment and vehicles of participation and Church renewal.