Memorial Mass for Fr. Polycarpo Gumapo

Bishop Jaime Soto will preside at a memorial Mass for Father Polycarpo Gumapo, a retired priest of the diocese, on Thursday, Oct. 13 at 5 p.m. in the All Hallows Church, located at 5501 14th Ave. in Sacramento. Father Gumapo died on Sept. 21. He was 74.

 

A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Oct. 4 in St. Isidore Church in Medina, Misamis Oriental in the Philippines for Father Gumapo, where he has resided since 2012.

 

A native of the Philippines, Father Gumapo was the youngest child of eight of the late Lucio Gumapo and Maria Rubin. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro on Nov. 28, 1970 by Pope Paul VI in Luneta Park, Manila, Philippines, with 180 transitional deacons from various seminaries in Asia and Australia.

 

He came to serve in the Diocese of Sacramento in 1983, serving as associate pastor of St. Vincent Ferrer Parish in Vallejo until 1988. He subsequently served as associate pastor of St. Anne Parish in Sacramento from 1988 to 1993 and of St. Rose Parish in Sacramento from 1993 to 1994.

 

From 1994 to 2002, Father Gumapo served as pastor of All Hallows Parish in Sacramento, the first Filipino priest appointed as a pastor in the diocese. From 2002 to 2009, he was pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Lincoln. During his pastorate in Lincoln, the population grew tremendously, triggered in 2000 by housing developments such as the Sun City Lincoln Hills retirement community. This had an immediate impact on St. Joseph Parish. Many years of planning and generous support from parishioners came together as a new St. Joseph Church was dedicated on March 18, 2007.

 

From 2007 to 2010, Father Gumapo also served as dean of the West Placer Deanery. In July 2009, he was appointed as parochial administrator of Holy Family Parish in Citrus Heights, where he served until his retirement in 2011.

 

Father Gumapo is survived by his sisters, Marcelina Bajao and Sister Lucia Gumapo, OSS, many grandnieces and grandnephews, including Father Aldrin Basarte, parochial administrator of St. Mel Parish in Fair Oaks. Notes of condolence may be sent to Father Basarte at St. Mel Parish, P.O. Box 1180, Fair Oaks, CA 95628.