Cebu bishop gets military post

One of Cebu’s two auxiliary bishops has been appointed by Pope Francis as the new bishop of the Military Ordinariate in the country.

Cebu Auxiliary Bishop Oscar Florencio received his appointment from the Pope last March 2 and will be installed in his new post on April 4.

As head of the Military Ordinariate, Florencio will oversee 130 chaplains of various law enforcement agencies and military units in the country, including its 15 retired chaplains.

He has jurisdiction over the Philippine National Police, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine Coast Guard, their dependents and civilian employees in every branch of the AFP.

Florencio, 51, had already served as concurrent bishop of the Military Ordinariate since 2017 following the death of Bishop Leopoldo Tumulak due to pancreatic cancer.

Florencio will bid goodbye to his current position as auxiliary bishop.

He will also have to leave his parish, the Sto. Rosario Parish in Cebu City, which has served as his official residence in Cebu for four years.

Florencio told Superbalita Cebu that as a military bishop, he now has the power to oversee his chaplains, including transferring them to other assignments.

He plans to reach out to his military chaplains once he assumes the post, and tap them in eradicating illegal drug use in law enforcement agencies.

“I will go to my chaplains and tell them to try to look into other circumstances and not only the using, the pushing (of drugs). For example, here in Cebu, we try to look into the proper ways in order to address that problem, (in which) I see there is greediness in every person. Why? Because of easy money (in drugs),” Florencio said.

Born and raised in Capoocan town in Leyte, Florencio was appointed auxiliary bishop of Cebu in 2015.

Before that, he was vice rector and spiritual director of the St. John Evangelist School of Theology in Palo, Leyte.