Filipino priest named auxiliary bishop in Melbourne, Australia

A Filipino priest was named one of the two new auxiliary bishops in the Archdiocese of Melbourne in Australia, the Holy See Press Office reported on Friday

Rogationist Fr. Rene Ramirez was named by Pope Francis as one of the bishops for the Archdiocese of Melbourne on Friday.

Along with Fr. Thinh Nguyen, Ramirez will assist Archbishop Peter Comensoli in serving Catholics in Melbourne and assist Bishop Martin Ashe and Bishop Tony Ireland in overseeing the four regions of the Melbourne archdiocese.

Hailing from Gapan, Nueva Ecija and ordained as a priest in 1998, 55-year-old Ramirez was initially assigned to Australia in 2015 and served as parish priest for the Holy Family in Maidstone-Braybrook until he was assigned to the parish of St. Mel and St. Malachy in 2023.

Auxiliary bishop-elect Ramirez studied philosophy at Adamson University in Manila, receiving a bachelor’s degree. He was awarded a master’s degree in educational management from De La Salle University (2003) and a licentiate in spirituality from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

CBCP News reported that Ramirez and Nguyen will be ordained to the episcopate at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne on February 1. — Jiselle Anne Casucian/BAP, GMA Integrated News