Filipino bishop named new archbishop of Agana in Guam
Pope Francis has appointed Filipino Bishop Ryan Jimenez of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa in the Northern Mariana Islands as the new archbishop of the Archdiocese of Agana in Guam.
Jimenez succeeds Archbishop Michael Byrnes, who resigned in March 2023 at the age 64 due to health concerns. A Filipino priest Fr. Romeo Convocar served as apostolic administrator in the interim.
The Vatican made the announcement of the 52-year-old bishop’s appointment on Saturday, July 6,
Jimenez has been the bishop of Chalan Kanoa since 2016. He will be installed as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Agana at the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-basilica in Hagatna, Guam on Aug. 15 to coincide with the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
He is currently the president of the Conferentia Episcopalis Pacifici (CEPAC), and the vice-president of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania (FCBCO). FCBCO is composed of the bishops conferences of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and CEPAC.
He also serves as a consultant to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs.
Born on Dec. 18, 1971 in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, Jimenez earned his Bachelor’s degree in Pre-divinity from Ateneo de Manila University in 1992. He then joined the Jesuit Volunteers Philippines, working as a community organizer in the southern Philippines. From
1993 to 1995, he taught at the Sacred Heart School for Boys in Cebu City.
In 1995, he taught at the Eskuelan San Francisco de Borja, a Catholic school on the island of Rota in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. In 1999, he was accepted into the seminary program of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa and was ordained to the priesthood on June 8, 2003.
He completed his studies in the United States at Saint Patrick’s Seminary and University in California, earning his Bachelor in Sacred Theology, Master’s degree in Divinity, and Master’s degree in Theology in 2003.
He was appointed apostolic administrator of Chalan Kanoa in 2010 and was named its second bishop by Pope Francis on June 24, 2016.