New bishops appointed for Calbayog, Bangued

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed two bishops in the dioceses of Calbayog in Samar and Bangued in Abra, the National Office of Mass Media announced yesterday.

The appointments of 50-year-old Bishop Isabelo Abarquez to the Calbayog diocese and Fr. Leopoldo Jaucian to Bangued were announced at seven last night by Papal Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Fernando Filoni as it was published simultaneously in the Vatican.

Before his appointment as bishop of Calbayog, Abarquez was vicar-general of the Archdiocese of Palo, Leyte and parish priest of the Sto. Niño Parish in Tacloban City. He succeeds Archbishop Jose Palma, who was appointed archbishop of Palo last year.

Jaucian served as the superior of the Central Province of the Society of the Divine Word before he was named bishop of Bangued. He replaces Diocesan Administrator Fr. Pablo Nilo Peig. — Edu Punay