Pope Leo XIV has appointed Fr. Samuel Agcaracar of the Societas Verbi Divini (SVD) as the new bishop of the Diocese of San Jose in Nueva Ecija, ending nearly eight months of sede vacante for the northern Nueva Ecija diocese.
Agcaracar, 55, succeeds Bishop Roberto Mallari, who was installed earlier this year as the bishop of the Diocese of Tarlac.
The bishop-elect currently serves as rector of the Divine Word Seminary in Tagaytay City and as provincial admonitor of the SVD Philippine Central Province.
Born in Claveria, Cagayan, to a family of farmers, Agcaracar began his vocation in education, working as a teacher while volunteering as a catechist at St. Joseph Parish.
He later entered the Society of the Divine Word seminary, pursuing philosophical studies at Christ the King Seminary in Quezon City and theology at the Divine Word School of Theology in Tagaytay.
Following his ordination in 2007, he first served as high school director at Divine Word College of Calapan in Oriental Mindoro. He went on to teach at both the Divine Word Seminary and the Divine Word Institute of Mission Studies in Tagaytay.
Agcaracar earned his doctorate in missiology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
He also founded and currently leads the SVD Laudato Si’ Farm in Tagaytay, an initiative inspired by the Church’s call to ecological stewardship.
Nueva Ecija is home to two dioceses—Cabanatuan and San Jose, the latter overseeing parishes in the province’s northern region.
The date of Agcaracar’s episcopal ordination and installation as the fifth bishop of San Jose will be announced at a later time.
