Severo Cagatan Caermare (born October 22, 1969) is a Filipino

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He is the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the

Diocese of Dipolog The Diocese of Dipolog (Latin language, Latin: ''Dioecesis Dipologanae''; Filipino language, Filipino: ''Diyosesis ng Dipolog''; Cebuano language, Cebuano: ''Diyosesis sa Dipolog;'' Spanish language in the Philippines, Spanish: ''Diócesis de Dipo ...

in the Philippines.

Background

Caermare was born on October 22, 1969, in Sibutad,

Zamboanga del Norte Zamboanga del Norte (Cebuano language, Cebuano: ''Amihanang Zamboanga''; Subanon language, Subanon: ''Utara Sembwangan''; ), officially the Province of Zamboanga del Norte, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines situated w ...

, Philippines. He attended Cor Jesu Seminary in Dipolog,

, Philippines and St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in

Cagayan de Oro Cagayan de Oro (abbreviated CDO and officially the City of Cagayan de Oro; ; Bukid language, Binukid: ''Ciudad ta Cagayan de Oro''; ; ) is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Regions of the Philippi ...

. He attained his degree in

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

from Cor Jesu Seminary in Dipolog, Philippines.

Ministry

Sacerdotal

Caermare was ordained as priest on April 22, 1996, at Saint Anne Parish in his hometown of

Sibutad, Zamboanga del Norte Sibutad, officially the Municipality of Sibutad (; Subanon language, Subanen: ''Benwa Sibutad''; Chavacano: ''Municipalidad de Sibutad''; ), is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Zamboanga del ...

. As priest, Caermare spent most of his pastoral work in parishes. He also lectured in seminaries.

Episcopal

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

appointed Caermare to be the 3rd Bishop of the

on July 25, 2014, and was ordained on October 30, 2014, in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary in

Dipolog Dipolog (), officially the City of Dipolog (; Subanen languages, Subanen: ''Gembagel G'benwa Dipuleg/Bagbenwa Dipuleg''; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, prov ...

with Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines Giuseppe Pinto as the Principal Consecrator, Bishop Jose Cabantan of Diocese of Malaybalay and Bishop Emeritus Jose Manguiran of Dipolog as Principal Co-Consecrators. Because of this, Caermare became the first bishop from the Diocese of Dipolog where he was ordained. On December 6, 2017, after the passing of Iligan bishop

Elenito Galido Elenito delos Reyes Galido (April 18, 1953; Malaybalay City, Bukidnon – December 5, 2017) was a Filipino bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Iligan, an ecclesiastical jurisdiction covering the whole province of Lanao del Norte and the cit ...

, Pope Francis appointed Caermare as Apostolic Administrator for the Diocese of Iligan until September 5, 2019, after the appointment of Bishop Jose Rapadas III. Caermare (vice chairman of ECLA) assumed the two-year term chairmanship of the

Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (abbreviated as CBCP) is the permanent organizational assembly of the Catholic bishops of the Philippines exercising together certain pastoral offices for the Christian faithful of their terr ...

– Episcopal Commission on the

Laity In religious organizations, the laity () — individually a layperson, layman or laywoman — consists of all Church membership, members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-Ordination, ordained members of religious orders, e ...

(ECLA) from December 15, 2023 succeeding the late Bishop Enrique Macaraeg Tarlac. Caermare ("Sulat Pamahayag" 14 January 2024 on "ongoing signature gathering wherein money was offered to the voters") and his hundred priests of the

said that "a people’s initiative not coming from the people and without prior consultation may only end up favoring a few interests." He echoes

Broderick Pabillo Broderick Soncuaco Pabillo (; born March 11, 1955) is a Filipino prelate who has been the Vicar Apostolic of Taytay in Palawan since 2021. He was appointed by Pope Francis to that post on June 29, 2021, and was installed on August 19 by Soc ...

's call: "reject the ongoing signature campaign pushing for charter change through a people's initiative xxx the campaign offers money in exchange for their signatures."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caermare, Severo 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Philippines 1969 births People from Zamboanga del Norte Living people Bishops appointed by Pope Francis