Bishop Reynaldo Evangelista
MANILA, April 8, 2013— Pope Francis has appointed a Batangueño as the new bishop of the Diocese of Imus in Cavite.
The appointment of current Boac Bishop Reynaldo Evangelista, announced Monday, is Francis’ first appointment to the Catholic hierarchy in the Philippines.
The Imus diocese has been without a bishop for more than a year after Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle was installed Archbishop of Manila in December 2011.
With the transfer of Evangelista to Imus, the Diocese of Boac is known as a “vacant see” and remains so until the appointment of a new bishop.
Evangelista was born on May 8, 1960 in San Jose, Mabini, Batangas. At 26, he was ordained a priest in June 1986 and was appointed third bishop of Boac in December 2004 by Blessed John Paul II.
The 52-year old bishop is currently a member of the Permanent Council of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
Evangelista also chairs the CBCP’s Commission on Vocations and a member of the Commission on Seminaries.
The Imus diocese, which comprises the entire province of Cavite, is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Manila and serves around 2 million Catholics.
No date yet has been set for the installation of the new bishop of Imus. (Roy Lagarde)
