Pope Francis on Wednesday appointed Father Ronald Anthony Timoner as the new bishop of the Diocese of Pagadian in the southern Philippines.
Timoner, 53, will take canonical possession of a diocese that has been vacant since the death of Bishop Ronald Lunas on Jan. 2, 2024.
The Vatican announced the appointment at noon Rome time (6 p.m. in the Philippines).
Born in 1971, Timoner studied philosophy at the Holy Rosary Major Seminary in Naga City and theology at the University of Santo Tomas Central Seminary in Manila.
He later earned a licentiate in theology from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome.
Timoner was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Daet in Camarines Norte province on May 1, 1997.
After serving in several parish assignments, including as a formator at Holy Trinity College Seminary in Daet, he went on study leave in Milan, Italy, where he also served as chaplain of the Church of Saint Thomas.
Upon returning to the Philippines in 2008, he served as chancellor of the Daet diocese under then-Bishop Gilbert Garcera, who has been archbishop of Lipa since 2017.
In 2019, then-Daet Bishop Rex Andrew Alarcon appointed him vicar general, a position he held until the prelate was named archbishop of Caceres in 2024.
A vicar general is the highest-ranking official in a diocese after the bishop. He is a cleric deputed to exercise episcopal jurisdiction in the bishop’s name, and his actions are considered those of the bishop himself.
Before his episcopal appointment, Timoner served as diocesan administrator of Daet. The diocese now has a new bishop, Rogationist Fr. Hernan Abcede, who is set to be ordained to the episcopate and installed on May 1, 2025.
Since 2015, Timoner has also been director of the Socio-Pastoral Action Center Foundation of Daet and has served as parish priest of Parroquia de San Juan Bautista in Daet since 2017.
The bishop-elect is the younger brother of Fr. Gerard Francisco Timoner, the first Asian and current head of the Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominican Order.
As the new bishop of Pagadian, he will oversee a diocese of more than 1.3 million people, roughly 80 percent of whom are Catholic, spread across 26 parishes.
