Pope Leo XIV has appointed Fr. Samuel Agcaracar as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of San Jose de Nueva Ecija, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) announced.

The appointment ends the diocese’s nearly eight-month wait for a new bishop.

Agcaracar will succeed Bishop Roberto Mallari, who now leads the Diocese of Tarlac.

A native of Claveria, Cagayan, Agcaracar currently serves as rector of the Divine Word Seminary in Tagaytay and as provincial admonitor of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) Philippine Central Province.

Ordained in 2007, he has held several leadership roles, including serving as high school director of the Divine Word College of Calapan. He has also taught at the Divine Word Seminary and the Divine Word Institute of Mission Studies, both in Tagaytay.

According to CBCP, Agcaracar earned a doctorate in missiology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He is also the founder and executive director of the SVD Laudato Si’ Farm in Tagaytay.

"Nueva Ecija is home to two dioceses: Cabanatuan and San Jose, which oversees parishes in the northern part of the province," CPCP said.

The date for Agcaracar’s episcopal ordination and installation as bishop of San Jose will be announced at a later time.