Thousands pay tribute to bishop

By Freddie G. Lazaro

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union — Thousands of Catholic devotees paid tribute to La Union Bishop Artemio Rillera behind the altar of Saint William the Hermit Cathedral here Tuesday morning.

A concelebrated mass officiated by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas was offered to the prelate before he was brought to his final resting place.

Bishop Rillera, a missionary from the Society of the Divine Word (SVD), passed away at the age of 69 because of a severe asthma attack after saying Holy Mass at the Seminary of the Sacred Heart in San Fernando City last Nov. 13.