Julito Buhisan Cortes

Julito Buhisan Cortes was born on July 4, 1956, in Paranaque, Manila, and is a native of Siquijor, the eldest of seven children of Geronimo and Carmen Cortes. He studied at St. Joseph Seminary, earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from San Carlos Seminary College in 1976, and studied theology at the University of Santo Tomas, later completing a Licentiate in Sacred Theology in 1983, a Master of Arts in Higher Religious Education in 1983, and a Doctorate in Sacred Theology at the Angelicum in Rome in 1986. He was ordained a priest in 1980; Wikipedia gives October 24, 1980, at Dumaguete Cathedral, by Bishop Epifanio Surban, while the contemporary installation report confirms the year only.

After ordination he served at St. Joseph Seminary as teacher, formator, principal, and academic dean, became rector of the seminary and Vicar General in 1989, presided over the first Dumaguete Diocesan Synod in 1992, and was parish priest of Bacong from 1997. When Angel Lagdameo was transferred to Jaro in 2000, Cortes served as diocesan administrator of Dumaguete as a priest until John Du's arrival in 2001. He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Cebu and titular bishop of Severiana, and was consecrated on January 8, 2002; the day and the principal, Cardinal Vidal, rest on Wikipedia alone. During his Cebu years he was also parish priest of Santo Rosario. On September 28, 2013, Pope Francis appointed him Bishop of Dumaguete, and he was installed on December 5, 2013, at St. Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral in Dumaguete, with Archbishop Jose Palma officiating, Cardinal Vidal preaching, and Nuncio Giuseppe Pinto present. He is the fourth bishop of Dumaguete, succeeding John Du, who had been installed as Archbishop of Palo in May 2012, after a vacancy of more than a year. His surname is Cortes, not to be confused with the retired Bishop of Infanta, Cortez.

He chaired the CBCP Permanent Committee on Cultural Heritage of the Church from 2007 to 2013, and again from 2017, according to Wikipedia. In the Traditionis custodes window he has spoken publicly on civic matters: he condemned the March 2023 assassination of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and five others, led the diocese's opposition to the Negros Island Region in 2024, and issued a diocesan statement against corruption that was read in parishes across Negros Oriental and Siquijor. None of these is a Traditionis custodes act.