His Excellency Bishop Rex Ramirez has been installed in Naval Diocese in the central Philippine province of Biliran, which was ravaged by a strong typhoon last month. His Grace Bishop Rex was installed as the diocese’s second Bishop on January 12, 2018, replacing His Grace Bishop Emeritus Filomeno Bactol, who retired after serving the diocese since its establishment in 1988. Naval is a suffragan diocese of Palo Archdiocese. Caibiran and Naval were devastated after landslides brought about by heavy rains claimed the lives of at least 42 people. At least a dozen others remained missing.
As reported by ucanews.com, His Excellency Bishop Rex, who led relief efforts in the archdiocese in the wake of Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, remarked that “Calamity is part of our lives. We should not only be resilient but be ready all the time.” Further, His Grace added, “We learned the hard way. The Catholic Church needs to come up with “a good response to this present calamity. The devastated communities needed to be relocated and rehabilitated. This is a task of the government but I’m sure the church will find ways to help out.”
The Naval Diocese has 17 parishes and mission stations with 27 priests serving 220,000 people.
