Pope Francis has appointed Father Ryan P. Jimenez to be the bishop of the diocese of Chalan Kanoa.
The diocese is made up of the territory of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and is a suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Agaña.
Jimenez has been the apostolic administrator of the diocese since December 2010.
He was appointed administrator after Bishop Tomas A. Camacho retired in April 2010 at the age of 76.
The diocese was canonically erected on 8 November 1984 by Pope John Paul II. Its territories were taken from the archdiocese based in Guam.
Jimenez, originally from Dumaguete City in the Philippines, was ordained priest in Saipan on June 8, 2003, by Camacho, the first bishop for the now 32-year-old diocese.
He will be ordained bishop on 14 August. Archbishop Martin Krebs, apostolic delegate to the CNMI and apostolic nuncio to various island countries in the Pacific, will be the primary consecrator.
“Entrusted with fulfilling this appointment from Pope Francis through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I will do my best to serve the people of God.” Jimenez said in a statement on Saturday.
“Please continue to pray for our Pope, our Apostolic Nuncio, our clergy, religious men and women, and people of God in the diocese.”
“Please help me serve the Lord in ways everlasting and pray for me, your servant in Christ.”
Jimenez turns 45 in December.
Since his ordination, he has had various roles with the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa including as diocesan chancellor, parochial vicar, rector and superintendent of Catholic schools.
The diocese, which covers 184 square miles on more than a dozen islands, some of them uninhabited, currently has 11 parishes and one mission church.
Catholics make up about 60 percent of the estimated 72,000 people of the Northern Marianas.
Source
- guampdn.com
- Image: umatuna.org
