Pope reappoints Filipino bishop to Vatican worship office

Philippines

Archbishop Romulo Valles of Davao to serve new term in Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

Pope Francis has reappointed a Filipino archbishop to another term as a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments at the Vatican.

The reappointment of Archbishop Romulo Valles of Davao was conveyed on March 18 by the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to Archbishop Arthur Roche, prefect of the Vatican department.

However, Davao Archdiocese only made the reappointment public on April 17.

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Archbishop Valles, a former president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), had served in the same post for five years prior to his reappointment.

The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments is the congregation of the Roman Curia that handles most affairs relating to liturgical practices of the Latin Church as distinct from the Eastern Churches and some technical matters relating to the sacraments.

Archbishop Valles was surprised by the reappointment as he was getting ready to serve his archdiocese full time, according to the Philippine bishops’ conference website.

“It is a joy to serve the Church in this manner,” Archbishop Valles said in a letter to Archbishop Roche.

The prelate also served as chairman of the CBCP’s Episcopal Commission on Liturgy from 2001 to 2009.

Archbishop Valles was elected president of the bishops’ conference in 2017, succeeding Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan.

He was president of the conference during the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines in 2021.

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