Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Francisco De Leon from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Antipolo, and appointed Bishop Ruperto Santos of the Diocese of Balanga as his successor.

De Leon turned 75 in June 11 last year, the age when canon law requires bishops to submit their resignation to the pope. He had headed the diocese since 2016.

He first served the diocese as auxiliary bishop from 2007 until November 2015 when he was appointed as its coadjutor bishop.

In September 2016, he assumed the leadership of the diocese, succeeding retired Bishop Gabriel Reyes.

The changes were publicized in Manila on Wednesday, May 24, by Archbishop Charles Brown, apostolic nuncio to the Philippines.

Born in San Rafael, a town in Bulacan province, Santos was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Manila in 1983.

The 65-year-old also received a licentiate in history from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1990.

Prior to becoming bishop of Balanga in April 2010, he had been serving as Rector of the Pontificio Collegio Filippino in Rome, Italy.

Within the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, he is the vice chairman of the Episcopal Commission for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (ECMI), which he previously headed for many years.

At present, Santos is also the CBCP’s bishop-promoter of the Stella Maris-Philippines.

No date has yet ben set for the installation of Santos as the fifth bishop of Antipolo, home of the newly declared International Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage.