ANILA (UCAN): Pope Francis appointed a 60-year-old Archbishop Charles John Brown as the new apostolic nuncio to the Philippines, the Vatican announced on September 28. He succeeds Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia, who left the country in December 2019 to serve as permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York.
Archbishop Brown, who has been nuncio in Albania since 2017, is expected to arrive in the Philippines in October.
He was born on 13 October 1959, in New York and ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of New York on 13 May 1989, where he served as an assistant parish priest in the Bronx.
In 1994, he went to Rome and became a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
On 26 November 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed then-Father Brown apostolic nuncio to Ireland, elevating him to the rank of archbishop and ordaining on 6 January 2012, Epiphany Sunday.
Archbishop Brown is the second American in the Italian-dominated list of papal nuncios to the Philippines.
The first was Archbishop Edward Adams, was nuncio from 3 September 2007 to 22 February 2011.
Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan and acting president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, welcomed Archbishop Brown on social media posting: “A new papal nuncio to the Philippines … The Diocese of Kalookan welcomes the new nuncio to the Philippines.”
Seminarians also welcomed the appointment of the pope’s new ambassador to the Philippines.
As we celebrate the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines. The Chaplaincy to Filipino Migrants organises an on-line talk every Tuesday at 9.00pm. You can join us at:
https://www.Facebook.com/CFM-Gifted-to-give-101039001847033
“From the bottom of our hearts, we Filipinos welcome His Excellency, Most Rev. Charles John Brown, as the pope’s new apostolic nuncio to the Philippines. Welcome and Mabuhay!” Joselito Ayo, a Filipino seminarian studying in Rome, said.
