Pope Francis on Tuesday made an appointment in the Catholic Church in the southern Philippines.
He appointed Bishop Angelito R. Lampon, the Vicar Apostolic of Jolo, as the new Archbishop of Cotabato. The 68-year old bishop takes over from Cardinal Orlando B. Quevedo who has stepped down having reached the retirement age of 75 back in 2014.
Both the 79-year old cardinal and the new archbishop belong to the congregation of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI).
Bishop Lampon was born in M’lang, Cotabato, on 1 March 1950.  After his novitiate with OMI in Tamontaka, Cotabato, he studied philosophy at the Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City, and theology at the Loyola School of Theology, also in Quezon City.
Bishop Lampon was ordained an OMI priest on 26 March 1977.
As a priest he held the following responsibilities:
1977-1978: Assistant parish priest in Lebak, Sultan Kudarat and in the Cathedral of Cotabato
1979-1981: Staff member at Cotabato City Seminary
1981-1982: Studied at SIADI (South Asian Interdisciplinary Institute), Intramuros, Manila
1988-1992: Director of OMI postulants and scholastics
1992-1997: Counsellor general at the OMI generalate /headquarters in Rome, Italy
On his return to the Philippines, Bishop Lampon was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Jolo on 21 November 1997 and was consecrated bishop on 6 January 1998.
In the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Bishop Lampon was president of the Commission for Interreligious Dialogue from 2011 to 2017. Currently, he is president of the Commission for Ecumenical Affairs.
