Pope Francis appoints new bishop in Quezon

Pope Francis delivers the Urbi et Orbi (to the city and to the world) blessing at the end of the Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on April 5. The Pope has appointed a new bishop in the Diocese of Gumaca, according to CBCP News. AP

LUCENA CITY—The Diocese of Gumaca of the Catholic Church in Quezon province has a new bishop.

Pope Francis on Friday appointed Monsignor Victor Ocampo, 63, as the new bishop of the Diocese of Gumaca, according to information released on Saturday by CBCP News, the official news service of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

Bishop Ocampo, the fifth bishop of Gumaca, is currently the chancellor of the Diocese of Balanga and parish priest of Santo Domingo Church in Abucay town, Bataan, the CBCP said.

Ocampo will succeed former Gumaca Bishop Buenaventura Famadico who is transferred to the Diocese of San Pablo in Laguna in 2013.

Balanga Bishop Ruperto Santos described Ocampo, a native of Angeles City, Pampanga, as “very dedicated and devoted to his priestly duties.”

Ocampo was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Balanga in 1977.

No date has been set for the installation of Ocampo as bishop of Gumaca.

The Diocese of Gumaca was created on April 9, 1984. It comprises the eastern part of Quezon province and is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Lipa, according to CBCP records.

The territory that now comprised the Diocese of Gumaca was part of the Diocese of Lucena until it was made a separate diocese.

There are 22 parishes in the Diocese of Gumaca. Its titular patron is San Diego de Alcala.