Vatican city: Pope Leo XIV has named Jolo Bishop Charlie Inzon as the new archbishop of Cotabato.
According to Philippines News Agency, the appointment of the new head of the Archdiocese of Cotabato was announced at the Vatican at 12 noon (6 p.m. Manila time) on the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Monday.
Inzon will be the fifth archbishop of Cotabato. The 59-year-old Catholic prelate will succeed Archbishop Angelito Lampon, whose resignation was accepted by the Pope after he reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 for bishops on March 1. Lampon led the archdiocese for more than six years, starting in January 2019.
Inzon was born in Barangay Putiao, Pilar, Sorsogon in 1965, entered the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) congregation in 1982, and made his perpetual profession in 1990. He studied philosophy at Notre Dame University in Cotabato City and theology at the Loyola School of Theology of Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City. He was ordained a priest for the Oblates in Caloocan City on April 24, 1993.
The archbishop-designate has served in parishes and schools, including as president of Notre Dame College in Jolo and Notre Dame University in Cotabato. He became provincial superior of the Oblates in 2018 before he was named apostolic vicar of Jolo in 2020. Inzon also holds a master's degree in theology from the Loyola School of Theology and a doctorate in psychology from Ateneo.
He was ordained bishop at the Cotabato Cathedral on May 21, 2020, and was installed in Jolo on July 16 of the same year. Inzon currently heads the Episcopal Commission on Catholic Education of the CBCP. No date has been set for his installation.
