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José Roel Lungay

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José Roel Lungay
José Roel Lungay Jr. (born March 11, 1960 in
Manila, Rizal, Philippines), also known as Father
Roel, or more widely as Fro, is a Filipino priest
from Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Philippines. He was
ordained to the priesthood on December 7, 1984 at
the Immaculate Conception Parish, Catigbian,
Bohol, Philippines and is currently the pastor of St.
Genevieve Church in Slidell, Louisiana, USA.
Father Roel has also made a mark in the field of
music as a songwriter, arranger and record
producer.

Contents
José Roel Lungay

1 Biography Background information

1.1 Early life Birth name José Roel Lungay

1.2 Career
Born March 11, 1960

1.3 Missionary to America
Origin Tagbilaran City, Bohol,

1.4 Post Katrina life and ministry
Philippines

2 Discography

2.1 List of songs
Occupation(s) Roman Catholic priest, singer,

2.2 Albums
songwriter, arranger

2.3 Contests and awards Years active 1998–present

2.4 Music samples Label(s) Fro's Music, PB Records

3 Publications Members

4 Also see *Paring Bol-anon Archdiocese of New Orleans

5 References Knights of Columbus

6 External links

Biography
Early life

José Roel Lungay, fondly called Father Roel or Fro, was born to José Racho Lungay of Balilihan, Bohol
and Amelia Fernandez Galicia of San Jose, Mindoro Occidental. His father, a product of FEATI
University in Manila, was a long-time public servant having served as Area Equipment Engineer of
Region 7 of the Department of Public Highways (DPH) until his retirement, while his mother, a St. Paul
College alum, was a devoted homemaker tending all 10 of her children. Father Roel, born in Manila,
was raised in Tagbilaran City, Bohol. He attended kindergarten (1964-1966) in Marulas, Bulacan and
Sampaloc, Manila. For his elementary education, his Grades 1 and 2 (1966 - 1968) were at Catigbian
Elementary School Annex, Catigbian, Bohol. His Grades 3 to 6 (1968 - 1972) were at Cogon
Elementary School, Tagbilaran City, graduating from elementary at Cogon Elementary School. He

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attended the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Tagbilaran City for both his secondary school
(1972 - 1976) and college (1976 - 1980) where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Arts major in classical
philosophy, minor in English. He also took up a few subjects in architecture at the University of Bohol
before deciding to go back to the seminary. For his post-graduate studies, he proceeded to the Saint
Augustine Major Seminary (SASMA) and the Divine Word Seminary in Tagaytay City where he earned
his degree in theology.

While still a student at the Divine Word Seminary in Tagaytay City, between the years 1981 to 1985,
Roel became involved with works among the underprivileged. As a seminarian he always chose for his
apostolates an opportunity to be with the poor or the so-called grassroots people. For four years he
worked in different areas like Ternate; Bagong Bayan, Dasmarinas (a Resettlement area); Malagasang,
Imus; Andrea, Bacoor and Rosario, Cavite. Both as a seminarian and as a priest he took part in
organizing, between 1984 - 1986, the first People Power in the Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon
Regions.

After finishing his third year in theology studies he was ordained, at age 23, a deacon for the Diocese of
Tagbilaran on February 28, 1983 at the St. Joseph Cathedral, Tagbilaran City. He went back to the
seminary the following year and was ordained to the priesthood, on December 7, 1984, at the
Immaculate Conception Church in Catigbian, Bohol by then bishop of Tagbilaran, Most Rev. Onesimo
Gordoncillo, D.D., currently the Archbishop of Capiz. He bacame the first priest ordained in that town.
Shortly after ordination he went back to the seminary again to finish his studies until his graduation on
March of 1985. He received his first pastoral assignment when his bishop, now Archbishop of Capiz,
Most. Rev. Onesino Gordoncillo, D.D., sent him to the Diocese of Cabanatuan which was in need of
priestly help. He was assigned as assistant priest of St. Nicholas de Tolentino Cathedral in Cabanatuan
City for one full year.

Back when the Diocese of Tagbilaran was being split into two ecclesiastical Dioceses in 1986, Father
Roel came home to Bohol for reassignment. Since the Bishop of Tagbilaran at that time was already
being named the Archbishop-elect of the Archdiocese of Capiz, he deferred assigning Father Roel to a
new station and told him instead to wait until the next bishop to arrive. The Diocese finally split that
year and two new bishops were named for both the old Diocese of Tagbilaran and the new Diocese of
Talibon: Most Rev. Felix Zafra, D.D. for Tagbilaran and Most Rev. Cristian Noel, D.D. for Talibon. It
was during this time that Fr. Roel opted instead to visit his family in San Francisco for which he was
granted permission by then Diocesan Administrator, Msgr Pelagio Dompor, J.C.D. with the approval of
the Priests Consultors of the Diocese.

Career

After spending a year of sabbatical from the seminary in 1980 and working with evited squatters at San
Jose Resettlement Area in Carmona, Cavite, Father Roel entered the St. Augustine Major Seminary
(SASMA) in 1981. There, he started writing liturgical settings of the Mass both in English and in
Tagalog. He was one of the first composers to write a musical setting for the new Tagalog Missal
Bagong Misal, which was approved in 1982 but initially faced a considerable amount of opposition in its
early years, especially in the Manila area. However, his new setting continued to be taught and sung at
SASMA and in some Dioceses where SASMA seminarians came from. In 1983, the Archdiocesan
Commission on Liturgical Music (ACLM), Archdiocese of Manila [1] published some of his songs in its
third hymnal publication, Hosanna III, approved by then Archbishop of Manila, Jaime Cardinal Sin. Fr.
Roel was also voted by the seminarians as music director of SASMA in 1982 during which he initiated

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the publication of the seminary's hymnal, SASMASSONGS (MISASMA). In 1984, along with Fr. William
Abas who was the lyricist, he wrote the music and arrangement to Handog-Paglilingkod (Service
Offering)[2] which became the official theme song of SASMA that very year.
Father Roel helped the formation of the Singing Priests of Louisiana composed of three other Paring
Bol-anons: Fr. Jaime Apolinares, Fr. Danilo Digal and Fr. Joel Cantones, as counterpart to the Singing
Priests of San Francisco. The group debuted in 1988 during the 3rd Paring Bol-anon, USA Reunion with
a concert in Brooklyn, New York, followed by a performance at the United Nations Auditorium in 1988.
As the group's accompanist and arranger, Father Roel engaged himself to more vocal arrangements for
the group, which eventually landed them a spot in New Orleans' WWL-TV Channel 4's Christmas
Around The World program back in 1989. The group also performed at various Filipino Community
functions as well as traveled to neighboring states of Texas and Mississippi doing Christmas carols and
helped raise funds for the needs of the Diocese and the seminary in the Philippines. The Singing Priests
of Louisiana finally disbanded in 1990 after a performance at the IHMS Silver Jubilee Celebration in
Tagbilaran City.

As an avid songwriter, Father Roel had also participated in some songriting contests over the years. In
195 he won first place in the NFCMWA Christian Music Songwriting Contest in Jacksonville, Florida
with the song Dear Jesus. He also got an honorable mention in the Trailblazer Category of the 1995
Airplay International Country Songwriting Contest, Nashville, Tennessee with his song, Sailboat.

Missionary to America

Father Roel left the Philippines for the the United States on December 17, 1986 by way of Tokyo, Japan.
He arrived in San Francisco on December 18 and was met at the airport in San Francisco by another
Paring Bol-anon, Gabriel Mision, who then brought him to his aunt's house in South San Francisco. He
spent his first ever Christmas in America with his mother's family and the few Paring Bol-anons who
were in the Bay Area at the time. Right after Christmas, upon invitation of another Filipino priest, he
headed for Denver, Colorado then to New Orleans, Louisiana were he eventually made a new home and
ventured on a new mission.

Father Roel spent his first 6 months in Louisiana as a guest priest at St. Lawrence Church in Kramer or
Bayou Boeuf to locals. It was there where he immersed himself to a new culture, that of the French
Cajuns. It was during his stay in this area where he finally got a taste first-hand of what Southern
hospitality is about , foods he previously only heard in a song or read from a travel book, such as
Jambalaya, creole gumbo, crawfish boil, alligator sauce piquante, turtle soup, soft-shell crabs, and places
such as Thibodaux and New Orleans.

In June of 1987 Father Roel received his first official canonical assignment from then Archbishop of
New Orleans, Most Rev. Philip Hannan, D.D., as Associate Pastor of St. Philip Neri Church in Metairie
under Msgr. A. Charles Kenney. He served there from 1987 to 1990. During the tenure of Archbishop
Francis B. Schulte, he was also stationed at St. Rita Church, Harahan, LA, from 1990 to 1994, under the
Rev. Willie Meridier and, later on, Msgr. Frank Giroir. Then from 1994 to 1998 he was assigned at St.
Ann Church and National Shrine in Metairie under two long-time pastors, Msgr. Charles Duke and
Msgr. Joseph Bourgeois, and finally at Our Lady of Prompt Succor Church (1998-2001) in Chalmette
under the Rev. Warren Cooper. After incardinating from the Diocese of Tagbilaran in 2000, Father Roel
officially joined the Archdiocese of New Orleans in 2001 when he was made a first time pastor of St.
Genevieve Church, Slidell in eastern St. Tammany.

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Post Katrina life and ministry

In mid-July of 2005, Father Roel underwent surgery for his thyroid at Northshore Hospital in Slidell.
Having lost his voice as a result of the surgery, he was given an five-week official leave of absence by
the Archdiocese to rest his barely heard voice and recuperate. It was while he was in the Philippines, on
August 29, 2005, when the biggest natural disaster to ever hit the United States - Hurricane Katrina -
struck the whole gulf south region that annihilated almost everything that stood by its way. Suffice it to
say, that Father Roel not only lost everything he owned but also the very church he was given charge of
and the rectory that he lived in. St. Genevieve Church is gone and no more![3]
As an ecclesiastical parish St. Genevieve in Slidell is a close-knit faith community on the northeartern
part of Lake Ponchartrain just west of Mississippi. It comprises some 1,500 to 2,000 Catholic
households, a local airport, the one and only mall in Slidell and other commercial entities. Built in 1958,
the church building had been a long-standing center of many activities of the local people as well as
newcomers to the area. It is considered to be one of the most scenic of churches in and of New Orleans
by the mere fact that it stands right on the bank of Bayou Liberty, one of many tributaries of Lake
Ponchartrain, across an old marina. The surroundings, too, is well-adorned with centuries-old oak trees
and a vast marshlands and waterways Louisiana is known for.

A week or two after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the people, scattered all over the country
during the evacuation, started to come home slowly to pick up the pieces and commenced the road to
recovery. On Sundays, parishioners gathered on the church ground where Mass is celebrated with priest
helping from a nearby parish. For almost two months St. Genevieve, without its pastor, Fr. Roel, was
reminiscent of the old mission church that it used to be, celebrating liturgy on the very spot where the
old chapel was in the early 1900 under the hot humid sky.[4]
Father Roel came back home to St. Genevieve on Tuesday, November 1, the Feast of All Saints. He
celebrated his first post-Katrina Mass that weekend which also happened to be the last Mass being
celebrated outdoors as parishioners readied themselves to move indoor, inside the delapidated Parish
Hall, in preparation for the winter season. Father Roel reminded the parishioners that even without the
buildings they are still a church, emphasizing that the people who gathered in the Lord's name is what
truly comprised a church. [4]

Discography
While serving as a priest in New Orleans, Louisiana, Father Roel has
produced four compilations of original songs written by him, Mass of St.
Rita (1994), Dear Jesus (1994), Music Revisited, Vol. 1 (1995) and one he
did with other Paring Bol-anons or PBs like Frs. TQ Solis, Jr. Elpidio
Biliran, Jr. and Arnold Zamora, One Heart, One Mind (1996).

List of songs

Albums

Mass of St. Rita (1993) - a compilation of original Mass settings and

selected Psalms

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Dear Jesus (1994) - a compilation of 16 original songs and spoken

prayers

Music Revisited, Volume 1 (1995) - a compilation of original works

One Heart, One Mind (1996) - a compilation of original Paring Bol-anon musical compositions

Music Revisited, Volume 2 (1997) - a compilation of original works

Christian Art Songs (3 Volumes) (1997) - a compilation of Salesian poetry set to music by J. Roel
Lungay

Contests and awards

Handog-Paglilingkod, choral piece written with Fr. William Abas, Theme Song of the Year,
1984 SASMA, Tagaytay City, Philippines

Dear Jesus, 1st Place, 1995 NFCWA Christian Music Songwriting Contest, Jacksonville,
Florida, USA

Sailboat, recipient, Country Song Trailblazer Award, 1995 Airplay International
Songwriting Contest, Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Music samples

Fro's Music Originals

Dear Jesus Album

One Heart, One Mind Album

Handog-Paglilingkod (v2)

Publications

SASMASSONGS (MISASMA) (1982) - St. Augustine Major
Seminary Tagaytay City, Philippines [5]

Hosanna, III (1983) - Archdiocesan Comission on Liturgical Music, Archdiocese of Manila,
Philippines [6]

Awit ng Pagsamba (1986) - Commission on Liturgy, Diocese of Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija,
Philippines

Mass of St. Rita (Youth Mass) (1992) - St. Rita of Cascia Church, 160 Imperial Woods Drive,
Harahan, LA 70123 [7]

Songs of Ayechemes (Musical Notations of PRECES) (2000) - Tribute to IHMS 50th Anniversary

Fro's Music 2000 (2000) - Collection of original compositions b Fr. J. Roel Lungay

Also see

Songs of Father Roel

Paring Bol-anon

Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary

Archdiocese of New Orleans

St. Genevieve Church

Diocese of Tagbilaran

Arnold Zamora

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References
1. ^ Hosanna, III (1983), the official publication of the Archdiocesan Commission on Liturgical Music
(ACLM), Archdiocese of Manila, Philippines
2. ^ Original live version of Handog-Paglilingkod performed by SASMA Seminarians
3. ^ Bayou Liberty Post-Hurricane Katrina Photos Retrieved online 16 January 2007
4. ^ a b Times Picayune Retrieved online 16 January 2007
5. ^ SASMASSONGS (MISASMA) (1982), the official liturgical songbook of St. Augustine Major Seminary
(SASMA), Tagaytay City, Philippines
6. ^ Hosanna III (1983), third official hymnal of the Archdiocese of Manila, Archidocesan Commission on
Liturgical Music
7. ^ Mass of St. Rita (Youth Mass) (1992), the official songbook of St. Rita CYO Youth Choir

External links

Archdiocese of New Orleans

St. Genevieve Church

Rev. J. Roel Lungay, Pastor

Paring Bol-anon WWW

Paring Bol-anon Music

Fro's Music Blog

Fro's Music Site

Christian Art Songs

Christian Music

Portal Sites

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Roel_Lungay"

Categories: Roman Catholic priests | Bohol | People from Bohol | 1960 births | Living people | Philippine
priests | Filipino religious leaders | Filipino musicians | Composers | Filipino people stubs | Asian
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