Fr. Andrew Alarcon, the new archbishop of Nueva Caceres, Camarines Sur. (File photo from CBCP News)
GUINOBATAN, Albay — Pope Francis has elevated Fr. Rex Andrew Alarcon, 53, as the new archbishop of the Archdiocese of Caceres, succeeding the retiring Rolando Octavus Tria Tirona.
Alarcon, who was appointed bishop of Daet in January 2019, was ordained as a priest for the Archdiocese of Caceres on Nov. 9, 1996.
He then became an assistant parish priest at St. John the Evangelist in Naga City.
A year later, and for almost three years, he served as a private secretary to then archbishop Leonardo Legaspi.
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He obtained a licentiate in church history after studying at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome from 1999 to 2001.
Alarcon will be the fifth Metropolitan Archbishop of Caceres, meaning he will also oversee the dioceses of Legazpi, Daet, Libmanan, Sorsogon, Virac, and Masbate.
Tirona, 77, has led the See of Caceres since September 2012.
“A diocesan bishop who has completed the seventy-fifth year of age is requested to present his resignation from office to the Supreme Pontiff, who will make provision after he has examined all the circumstances,” according to Catholic canon law.