Pope names John Du archbishop of Palo

MANILA, Philippines—Pope Benfedict XVI has named Dumaguete Bishop John Du the new head of the archdiocese of Palo, Leyte, in Eastern Visayas.

The Vatican on Saturday night announced the appointment of Du, 57, as the new archbishop of Palo, Leyte, a post that had been vacant since Archbishop Jose Palma was transferred to Cebu in October 2010.

Papal Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Guiseppe Pinto relayed the news of Du’s appointment to Msgr. Pedro Quitorio, media director of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

Du was born on Oct. 18, 1954, in Bantayan, Cebu. He was ordained a priest on June 1, 1979, after obtaining degrees in philosophy and theology from the San Carlos Seminary College in Cebu and the Divine Word Seminary in Tagaytay City.

In 1997, Pope John Paul II appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of Cebu. He was named Bishop of Dumaguete on April 21, 2001.

Currently, the archbishop-elect is the CBCP treasurer and chair of the CBCP Pension Plan. The archdiocese of Palo had 1.2 million Catholics as of 2004 and its suffragan dioceses include Borongan, Calbayog, Catarman and Naval.