Pope Francis names Cebuano priest Papal Chaplain

A Cebuano priest has been named by Pope Francis as Papal Chaplain or a member of the Papal household.

A Chaplain of His Holiness is a priest to whom the Pope has granted this title. They are addressed as Monsignor and have certain privileges with respect to ecclesiastical dress and vestments.

Msgr. Jan Thomas Limchua, 36, finished  his theological studies at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre in Pamplona, Spain. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Cebu last 2010.

He earned his doctorate in Canon Law at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome and underwent his diplomatic formation at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the Diplomatic school of the Holy See. He then entered the Diplomatic Service of the Holy See last 2014, serving the Apostolic Nunciature in Benin and Togo (West Africa) and in Egypt.

Earlier this year, Limchua was also appointed as an official of the Section for the Relations with States of the Holy See by the Vatican’s Secretary of State, His Eminence Pietro Cardinal Parolin.

The appointment is considered an honor for the Archdiocese of Cebu.

Limchua is the third Cebuano to enter the diplomatic service, the other two are: Archbishop Osvaldo Padilla, Apostolic Nuncio Emeritus to Korea, and his brother Archbishop Francisco Padilla, the Apostolic Nuncio to Guatemala. -- BAP, GMA News