Romulo Geolina Valles, D.D. (born July 10, 1951), is the current archbishop of the

Archdiocese of Davao The Archdiocese of Davao (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Davaensis)'' is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. It is a metropolitan see in southern Mindanao. The archdiocese comprises the city of Davao, The Island ...

Davao City Davao City, officially the City of Davao ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Dabaw; ), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the largest city in the Philippines in terms of lan ...

, on the island of

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines since December 1, 2017. He was the former archbishop of Zamboanga before being appointed to the Davao see.

Biography

He was ordained a priest on 6 April 1976 at the age of 24. On 6 August 1997, aged 46, he was elevated to a bishop, and appointed to Kidapawan, Philippines. After 9 years, he was elevated to Archbishop of Zamboanga on 13 November 2006. He was appointed Archbishop of Davao on February 12, 2012, Valles took over the Davao archdiocese from Archbishop Fernando Capalla, 77, whose resignation has been accepted by the pontiff. The new archbishop was installed in a solemn liturgical rite of reception in which he canonically took possession of the metropolitan cathedral church, the San Pedro Cathedral, on May 22, 2012, in the presence of Papal Nuncio to the Philippines, Archbishop Giuseppe Pinto, cardinals, other archbishops, bishops, priests, and laity from Davao City, and all over the country. Valles was elected on July 8, 2017 as President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, succeeding Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop

Socrates Villegas Sócrates Buenaventura Villegas (born September 28, 1960) is a Filipino prelate, and a professed member of the Dominican Order, He is the current Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan in Pangasinan, and is the former president of the Catholic Bisho ...

, assuming the post on December 1, 2017. He was reelected to the same position in 2019. On 23 May 2020, Valles suffered a mild stroke and was hospitalized until July 6 due to an acquired hospital pneumonia. Pablo Virgilio David, vice-president of the CBCP, was temporarily appointed acting president. In July 2021, David was elected president by the CBCP and succeeded Valles assuming the position last December 1, 2021.

References

20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Philippines 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Philippines 1951 births Living people People from Bohol Roman Catholic archbishops of Zamboanga Roman Catholic archbishops of Davao Presidents of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines {{Philippines-RC-archbishop-stub