Pope Leo XIV has appointed Fr. Dave Dean Capucao as the new bishop of the Prelature of Infanta, marking the first Filipino episcopal appointment under the current pontificate, according to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) News.
Fr. Capucao, 59, will take over from retired Bishop Bernardino Cortez, who served the prelature since January 2015. Cortez’s resignation was accepted by the pope after he reached the age of 75 in July 2024, in accordance with Ecclesiae Sanctae, the 1966 apostolic letter by Pope Paul VI that mandates bishops to submit their resignation upon reaching this age.
Ordained as a priest in 1994, Fr. Capucao dedicated his early ministry to the Infanta prelature, serving as the founding pastor of a village parish in a marginalized area of Aurora province for six years. His commitment to education and intercultural dialogue is evident through his academic achievements, including a master’s degree in intercultural and interreligious theology from Radboud University in the Netherlands and a doctorate in sacred theology from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.
His overseas mission work began in 2006 when he took up parish duties in the Netherlands, later joining the pastoral team of Saint Ludger Parish in Lichtenvoorde and Winterswijk. He returned to the Philippines in 2011 and has since played a vital role in clergy formation, notably as a formator and rector at St. Joseph Formation House (SJFH) in Quezon City.
Fr. Capucao is currently the president of the Center for Empirical Studies on Spirituality, Theology, and Religion–Asia (CESSTREL-ASIA) and a member of the Presbyteral Council of the Prelature of Infanta, among other international organizations.
