POPE Francis has appointed a Filipino missionary priest as one of two new auxiliary bishops for the Archdiocese of Melbourne, Australia.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines reported that the Vatican announced on Friday the appointments of Fr. Rene Ramirez and Fr. Thinh Nguyen as auxiliary bishops under Melbourne Archbishop Peter Andrew Comensoli.
Ramirez and Nguyen will join auxiliary bishops Martin Ashe, Terence Robert Curtin, and Anthony John Ireland in serving Melbourne’s 1.26 million Catholics. The archdiocese spans Melbourne, the capital city of Victoria.
Fr. Ramirez, 55, has been serving as the parish priest of St. Mel in Shepparton and St. Malachy in Nagambie, located in the Diocese of Sandhurst, since 2013.
Born in Gapan City, Nueva Ecija, in March 1969, Ramirez joined the congregation of the Rogationist Fathers of the Heart of Jesus after completing primary and secondary school. He holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Adamson University in Manila and a master’s degree in education management from De La Salle University-Dasmariñas in Cavite.