MANILA, Philippines - Kidapawan Bishop Romulo de la Cruz has been appointed by the Vatican as the new archbishop of Zamboanga, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) announced over the weekend.
CBCP president and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said Pope Francis himself made the appointment last Saturday.
De la Cruz takes the place of Archbishop Romulo Valles, who was transferred to the Archdiocese of Davao in February 2012.
The Archdiocese of Zamboanga has had no head for the past two years.
Because of the appointment, a new bishop will be chosen in place of De la Cruz for the diocese of Kidapawan.
Born on June 24, 1947 in Balasan, Iloilo, De la Cruz was ordained as priest on Dec. 8, 1972.
He later became parish priest in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat, and then rector of the Notre Dame Archdiocesan Seminary in Shariff Kabunsuan.
De la Cruz was ordained as bishop in 1988 and served as bishop of the Prelature of Isabela in Basilan and later as bishop of the diocese of San Jose de Antique.
He was appointed to the diocese of Kidapawan in Mindanao in May 2008 by then Pope Benedict XVI.
No date yet has been set for his installation as the new Zamboanga archbishop.