MANILA, Philippines – Pope Francis named 54-year-old Father Nolly Buco as auxiliary bishop of Antipolo, making him the first priest from the Diocese of Antipolo to become a bishop.

The Vatican announced his appointment on Tuesday evening, July 10, Manila time.

Buco is parish priest of Our Lady of Light Parish in Cainta, Rizal, said the Diocese of Antipolo. 

An auxiliary bishop assists the bishop in running a diocese, a territory composed of Catholics. The bishop of Antipolo is 71-year-old Francisco de Leon. 

Buco is “the second auxiliary bishop in the 35-year history” of the Diocese of Antipolo, said the news service of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

According to the Diocese of Antipolo, Buco “is the first ever Antipoleño clergy to be elevated to the episcopate.” He became a priest of the Diocese of Antipolo on October 18, 1993.

Born in Davao Oriental on November 27, 1963, Buco finished philosophy at the Sacred Heart Seminary in Palo, Leyte, and theology at the Immaculate Conception Major Seminary in Guiguinto, Bulacan.

Like Buco, another recently ordained bishop – Bartolome Santos Jr, who now heads the Diocese of Iba in Zambales – graduated from a seminary in the Diocese of Malolos. 

Buco eventually earned his doctorate in canon law at the University of Santo Tomas in 2004. – Rappler.com