MANILA, March 31, 2016— Pope Francis on Thursday appointed a new bishop for the Diocese of Tarlac, located north of Manila.
Bishop-elect Enrique Macaraeg, until now the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan in Pangasinan, has been appointed to replace retired Bishop Florentino Cinense.
Macaraeg will be the third bishop of the diocese with more than a million Catholics and served by Cinense for 28 years.
At age 75, bishops are requested to submit their resignation to the pontiff but it was only today that the Pope accepted the retirement of Cinense who just turned 78 years old last March 14.
The 60-year old bishop-elect is currently the parish priest of Saint Ildefonse parish in Malasiqui town.
Macaraeg completed his philosophical and theological studies at the University of Santo Tomas Central Seminary in Manila and achieved a Masters degree in Arts in Oriental Religions and Cultures.
Ordained a priest for the Lingayen-Dagupan archdiocese in 1979, other positions he held include dean of seminarians at the San Pablo Seminary in Baguio City, resident priest at Our Lady of Fatima parish in Quezon City, parish priest in Mangaldan, Pangasinan and Santa Barbara.
He was also the Director of Santo Tomas School, Mangaldan, a professor and then the dean of studies at the Philosophy Seminary in Dagupan City, and the Director at St. John Cathedral School in Dagupan City, at the Catholic School of Malasiqui and then at St. Charles Academy.
Later he served as the Diocesan Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies and Zonal Vicar of the Vicariate.
Since 1998 he was the Director of the Archdiocesan Commission for the Clergy until in 2005 when he was appointed the pastor of St. Ildephonse parish. (Roy Lagarde/CBCPNews)
