Pope appoints new bishop for Ilagan

MANILA, Philippines - Pope Benedict XVI has appointed another bishop to serve the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ilagan in Isabela province, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines has said. The CBCP said Benedict XVI appointed Joseph Amangi-Nacua of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin as head of the Ilagan bishopric, which has almost a million Catholics. "Nacua, 63, is the first Capuchin missionary in the country to be ordained bishop," the CBCP said in a statement on its website. Nacua succeeds Bishop Sergio Utleg, whom the Pope transferred to the diocese of Laoag in Ilocos Norte in 2006. Prior to his appointment, he served as priest of the San Isidro Labrador Parish in Titay town, Zamboanga Sibugay province. Nacua was born in Mankayan, Benguet on January 5, 1945. He studied Philosophy at St. Anthony's School of Philosophy in Kerala, India and completed his Licentiate in Sacred Theology in Pamplona, Spain. He was ordained priest on June 27, 1971 in General Santos City, and was assigned Guardian Rector of Lipa Seminary in Batangas and later become director of Capuchin novices. Also, he served as Capuchin's definitor and provincial minister before he was finally appointed as the general definitor. No date has yet been set for the ordination and installation of Nacua as bishop of Ilagan. - GMANews.TV