Jack Elliott
A warm, ready smile and a friendly, gentle voice are what you get when you first meet Father Reverend Alan Albao (al-bow), the newly appointed priest for the west end of the Rainy River District.
Serving the four parishes of St. Patrick’s in Emo, Our Lady of the Way (Pinewood), Our Lady of Good Counsel (Rainy River), and our Lady of the Lake (Morson), Fr. Albao was first appointed as a temporary replacement in April for Father Dan Debano, and then permanently appointed as parish priest by Most Reverend Fred Colli, Bishop of the Thunder Bay Diocese.
A native of the Philippines, Fr. Albao was most recently Associate Pastor at Corpus Christi on Red River Road in Thunder Bay and prior to that worked in the Hamilton, Ont. diocese for three years.
Fr. Alan was raised and educated in Masbate, Philippines and in 1985 entered the seminary in Italy studying Theology and Philosophy. In 1992 he was ordained to the priesthood at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.
He returned to the ministry in the Philippines, the after five years returned to Italy to complete a Masters Degree in Moral Theology. Again Fr. Albao returned to the Philippines where he continued in the ministry at Laguna, south of Manila and worked in Mission Appeals to the U.S. and Canada from 2001 to 2004.
On Sept. 11, 2001 he was on a 6:30 a.m. flight departed from LaGuardia, N.Y. to Texas when the terrorist hijacked flights struck the World Trade Center. They were forced to land in Atlanta where the plane spent three days as all flights in the U.S. were frozen.
“Enroute, we knew nothing of what had happened, until we deplaned in Atlanta,” explained Fr. Albao, still shaken by the events of that day.
A self-confessed sports fanatic particularly regarding soccer, basketball, and tennis, Fr. Albao is looking forward to an opportunity to coach local school teams. He has garnered several awards for his soccer skills at various levels over the years.
Fr. Alan has also a strong interest in music as demonstrated by his organ and guitar skills. His wit and sense of humour add an interesting tilt to many of his homilies
“My initial goal is getting to know the community and the people and welcome them back into the church,” stated Fr. Albao last week.
“I believe in getting along with people through friendship, peace, and harmony,” he explained, his face once again breaking into his friendly trademark smile.
