Four ecclesiastical territories remain “sede vacante” or without a bishop.
These are the apostolic vicariates of San Jose and Calapan in Mindoro, the Diocese of Alaminos and the Archdiocese of Capiz.
CBCP News said the apostolic vicariates of San Jose and Calapan have been vacant since 2018 while Diocese of Alaminos became vacant in 2019 following the appointment of Archbishop Ricardo Baccayto Tuguegarao.
The Archdiocese of Capiz, on the other hand, became vacant recently with the transfer of Cardinal Jose Advincula to the Archdiocese of Manila.
Addressing the bishops for the first time during their online plenary assembly in January, Papal Nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown assured that the nunciature is “working with urgency” to fill the vacancies.
“I have every hope that we will see some results soon,” he told the bishops.
Six pastoral jurisdictions were vacant when Brown arrived in the country in November last year.
Two of the vacancies were already filled with the recent appointments of Bishop Broderick Pabillo as vicar apostolic of Taytay in Palawan, and Msgr. Noel Pedregosa as bishop of Malaybalay on June 29.