Father Rene Ramirez appointed auxiliary bishop for Melbourne Archdiocese

Pope Francis appointed Father Rene Ramirez, a priest from Gapan, Nueva Ecija, as one of two new auxiliary bishops for the Archdiocese of Melbourne in Australia.

The newly named auxiliary bishop will assist Archbishop Peter Andrew Comensoli and Father Thinh Xuan Nguyen, another recently appointed auxiliary bishop from Saigon, Vietnam, in serving Catholics across Melbourne's four regions.

Ramirez, 55, has served as parish priest at Saint Mel and Saint Malachy in Shepparton since 2015 and holds degrees from Adamson University and De La Salle University in Manila, as well as a licentiate in spirituality from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

Before his assignment to Australia, Ramirez held several key roles including administrator, treasurer, and vice rector of the seminary of the Rogationist Fathers in Cavite, and served as superior of the St. Hannibal Rogate Center in Parañaque City from 2009 until 2015.

The Archdiocese of Melbourne, which includes around 40,300 Filipino Catholics or 3.9% of its total population, will see Ramirez ordained at St. Patrick's Cathedral on February 1, 2025.