HAGATNA, Guam — Pope Francis appointed on Friday a new bishop for the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa in the U.S. island of Saipan in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).
The diocese made the announcement for the highest Catholic leader in the Northern Marianas on Saturday morning.
The Rev. Ryan P. Jimenez, upon his ordination Aug. 14, will only be the second bishop of the Catholic church in the Northern Marianas, which is one of five U.S. insular areas that also include Guam.
The position of bishop in the Northern Marianas has been vacant for six years, after Bishop Tomas A. Camacho retired on April 6, 2010 at the age of 76.
“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. Please continue to pray for our Pope, our Apostolic Nuncio, our clergy, religious men and women, and people of God in the diocese,” the Rev. Jimenez said in a statement on Saturday.
“Please help me serve the Lord in ways everlasting and pray for me, your servant in Christ.”
Archbishop Martin Krebs, apostolic delegate to the CNMI and apostolic nuncio to various island countries in the Pacific, will be the primary consecrator at Jimenez’s ordination.
Jimenez, originally from Dumaguete City in the Philippines, was ordained in Saipan on June 8, 2003, by Camacho, the first bishop for the now 32-year-old diocese. Jimenez turns 45 in December.
Since his ordination, he took on various roles with the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa including as diocesan chancellor, parochial vicar, rector and superintendent of Catholic schools.
On Dec. 28, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Jimenez as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa, which was created on Nov. 8, 1984.
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.
The Vatican’s appointment of a new bishop in the Northern Marianas comes nearly three weeks since Pope Francis also appointed a temporary administrator for the Archdiocese of Agana in neighboring Guam, while allegations of sex abuse against the highest Catholic church leader in Guam, Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron, are investigated.
Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Agana, expresses his heartfelt congratulations to Bishop-elect Ryan P. Jimenez and assures him of his own prayers and those of the local Church in Guam, according to a news release from the archdiocese.
