The Most Reverend The Most Reverend is a style applied to certain religious figures, primarily within the historic denominations of Christianity, but occasionally in some more modern traditions also. It is a variant of the more common style "The Reverend". Angli ...

Rex Andrew Clement Alarcon,

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

, (born 6 August 1970 in

Daet, Camarines Norte Daet (), officially the Municipality of Daet ( bcl, Banwaan kan Daet; tl, Bayan ng Daet), is a 1st class municipality and capital of the province of Camarines Norte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 111,700 peo ...

), is a

Prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

Catholic church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. He is the Bishop of Daet, with its seat at

. He succeeded Most Rev. Gilbert A. Garcera, DD, who was appointed

Archbishop of Lipa The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lipa is the head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lipa and the Metropolitan Bishop of the suffragan dioceses of Boac, Gumaca, Lucena and the Prelature of Infanta. The most recent Archbishop was Ramon Ar ...

in 2017.

Biography

The Bishop, born to Juanita C. Clement and the late Armando A. Alarcon on August 6, 1970 in Daet, Camarines Norte, finished his grade school studies at the Naga Parochial School. He then finished his high school education and philosophy degree at the Holy Rosary Minor Seminary. After being ordained to the priesthood on November 9, 1996, he attained his licentiate and master's degree in theology from the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Mig ...

. After ordination, he served as parochial vicar at the St. John the Evangelist Metropolitan Cathedral and Parish in Naga City, and professor-formator at the Holy Rosary Minor Seminary until 1997. From 1997 to 1999 he served as secretary to then-archbishop Most Rev. Leonardo Z. Legaspi, OP, DD. From 1999 and 2001 he studied at the

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school (pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

in Rome, Italy, where he obtained his licentiate in Church history. Upon his return, he became a professor at the Holy Rosary Minor Seminary. Since 2002 he has been the director of the Stewardship Program of the Archdiocese of Caceres (SPARC). In 2007, he was appointed as the fourth director of his alma mater, the Naga Parochial School. Concurrently, he also served as president of the Catholic Educational Association of Caceres and Libmanan, as well as the Bicol Association of Catholic Schools. In 2013, Archbishop Rolando J. Tria Tirona appointed him superintendent of the Catholic schools of the archdiocese. He also served as a member of the College of Consultants, and spokesperson for the archdiocese. Since 2016 he has been chairman of the National Advocacy Commission of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines.

Bishop of Daet

After 22 years as a priest of the

Archdiocese of Caceres In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

, on 2 January 2019,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

appointed him as the fourth

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

of the Diocese of Daet. He was ordained bishop on the Feast of

Saint Joseph Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers ...

, 19 March 2019, at the

Naga Metropolitan Cathedral The Naga Metropolitan Cathedral, formally the Metropolitan Cathedral and Parish of Saint John the Evangelist, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Naga City, Camarines Sur, Philippines. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Caceres ...

, with Most Rev.

Adolfo Tito Yllana Adolfo Tito Camacho Yllana (born 6 February 1948) is a Philippine prelate of the Catholic Church who works in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He has been an archbishop and apostolic nuncio since 2001, the Apostolic Nuncio to Israel as w ...

, D.D., Apostolic Nuncio to Australia, and Most Rev. Manolo A. de los Santos, D.D., Bishop of Virac, as principal co-ordaining prelates.

Apostolic Nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...

Most Rev.

Gabriele Giordano Caccia Gabriele Giordano Caccia (born 24 February 1958) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who works in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He has worked in the offices of the Secretariat of State and served as Apostolic Nuncio in Lebano ...

S.T.D., J.C.L., D.D. represented the Holy See. Bishop Alarcon was installed a day later on 20 March 2019 at the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity, and was attended by some 2,000 people. In May 2019, he joined the second batch of Philippine bishops who went to Rome for an

Ad Limina A quinquennial visit ''ad limina'', or simply an ''ad limina'' visit, is the required visit of Catholic residential diocesan bishops and certain prelates with territorial jurisdiction (such as territorial abbots) to the ''thresholds of the'' om ...

visit to

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alarcon, Rex Andrew 1970 births Living people Filipino expatriates in Italy Filipino Roman Catholics Pontifical Gregorian University alumni 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Philippines