Philippines youngest bishop heads Daet diocese

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s youngest Catholic bishop has been installed as head of the Diocese of Daet in Camarines Norte.

At age 48, Rex Andrew Alarcon, is the fourth bishop of the diocese, according to CBCPNews, the official news service provider of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

Around 2,000 people witnessed Alarcon’s installation in a ceremony held on Wednesday at the Catheral of the Most Holy Trinity.

Alarcon will lead the more than half a million Catholics in 30 parishes in the province.

“I want to accompany you. May we walk together in the spirit of synodality in the heart of the Church,” Alarcon told the congregation.

Around a dozen bishops attended the ceremony led by Archbishops Gabrielle Caccia and Adolfo Tito Yllana, apostolic nuncios to the Philippines and Australia, respectively.

Local and national government officials led by Vice President Leni Robredo attended the event.

Pope Francis appointed Alarcon as bishop of Daet on Jan. 2.

Alarcon replaced Archbishop Gilbert Garcera, who was transferred to the Archdiocese of Lipa in February 2017.

After completing his theology studies at the University of Santo Tomas, Alarcon was ordained priest of the Archdiocese of Caceres in 1996.

He obtained his licentiate in Church history at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 2001.

Since 2013, Alarcon has been chief of the office of superintendent of the Catholic schools of Caceres.

In the same year, he became a member of the college of consultors and spokesman for the archdiocese.

There are two other Filipino bishops who are younger than Alarcon, but they are based in other countries.

They are Bishop Ryan Jimenez, 47, of Chalan Kanoa in Saipan, and Bishop Pedro Baquero, 48, of Kerema in Papua New Guinea.