Cosme Damian Racines Almedilla

Cosme Damian Racines Almedilla was born on September 27, 1959, in San Miguel, Bohol. He studied philosophy at St. John XXIII College Seminary in Malaybalay and theology at the Loyola School of Theology in Manila. He was ordained a priest on August 4, 1987. His posts included a parish in Ubay, Bohol; seminary formation work; parish priest of Baungon, Bukidnon, from 2000 to 2001; the Immaculate Conception parish in Wao, Lanao del Sur, in the Diocese of Malaybalay, where the church's campaign against illegal logging drew death threats after the murder of Fr. Nerilito Satur, the 'green priest' and deputized forest ranger, in an ambush on October 14, 1991, at Barangay Guinoyoran, Valencia, Bukidnon; chaplain of the Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Muntinlupa City; spiritual director of John XXIII College Seminary; director of Holy Child Academy in Bohol; assistant pastoral director of the Diocese of Talibon from 2015, where he promoted the Basic Ecclesial Community movement; and Holy Child Parish in Ubay from 2017. He served seventeen years in Talibon before his appointment to Butuan, returning there in 2002 after leaving Malaybalay out of fear following Satur's murder. No motto is shipped: Pasce oves meas, from John 21:15, appears only on Wikipedia, and the other 'Pasce Oves Meas' hits found are about other men, not corroboration. No ordaining bishop is shipped: Wikipedia alone names Christian Vicente Noel, then bishop of Talibon, and the appointment report names none. No consecrators are stated: Wikipedia alone names Antonio Ledesma as principal with Jose Cabantan and Daniel Parcon as co-consecrators.

On March 25, 2019, he was appointed the third Bishop of Butuan, succeeding Juan de Dios Pueblos, who had served from 1995 until his death on October 21, 2017; Antonio Ledesma, Archbishop of Cagayan de Oro, had served as apostolic administrator during the vacancy, and Butuan's first bishop, Carmelo Morelos, had served from 1967 to 1994. Almedilla was consecrated and installed on June 25, 2019, at St. Joseph Cathedral in Butuan City, where the diocese then counted 62 parishes and an estimated 1.5 million Catholics across Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur. That 62-parish figure is pre-split Butuan; after the 2024 erection of Prosperidad, Butuan covers Agusan del Norte only.

In the window, his largest governing act is the diocesan split, and it is not a Traditionis custodes act. In 2023 he petitioned the Vatican to split Butuan into two, to better serve the faithful, especially those in far-flung areas; Pope Francis erected the Diocese of Prosperidad on October 15, 2024, covering Agusan del Sur, with Ruben Labajo as its first bishop, while Butuan retained Agusan del Norte. His tenure continues unchanged by the split: no tenure closes and no new tenure is created for him by it. No governing act of his own concerning the 1962 Missal was found. His June 2019 installation advocacy for the poor and the ecology predates the window and is baseline context, not a window work.