New bishop of Daet named

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Bishop Benjamin J. Almoneda, and has appointed Monsignor Gilbert A. Garcera as the new bishop of Daet in Camarines Norte.

Bishop Almoneda tendered his resignation, according to the mandate of Canon law, on his 75 th birthday, April 11, 2005. But the resignation was not accepted until Wednesday, April 4, 2007 – two years later. It was officially published in Rome, by the Vatican, on that day, and the news was released simultaneously in Manila by His Excellency Archbishop Fernando Filoni, the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines.

Monsignor Gilbert Armea Garcera is 48 years old. He was born on February 2, 1959, in Margarao, Camarines Sur. His elementary education was in Naga Parochial School, and his seminary training in Holy Rosary Seminary in Naga City. He was ordained at the age of 24 in the Naga Metropolitan cathedral. He earned his M.A. in Theology at the Ateneo de Manila University, and his Doctorate in Organizing, Planning and Development at SAIDI, in Antipolo City.

He has served as the Assistant Parish Priest in the Naga Metropolitan Cathedral; for 15 years he was rector of the Caceres Archdiocesan Catechetical Ministry; and for 14 years he headed the Caceres Commission on Communications. He was Vice-Rector of the Peñafrancia Minor Basilica, Administrative Director of Radio Veritas Asia, and for three years the assistant Secretary General of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

Since the year 2004 he has been the National Director of the Pontifical Missionary Societies, and a member of the Supreme Committee of “Pontificie Opere Missionarie” in Vatican.

No date has been set for his ordination as Bishop, of for his installation as the new Bishop of the Diocese of Daet in Camarines Norte.