Fr. Samuel Agcaracar Appointed Bishop of San Jose Diocese in Nueva Ecija

Pope Leo XIV has officially appointed Fr. Samuel Agcaracar of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) as the new bishop of the Diocese of San Jose in Nueva Ecija, concluding nearly eight months of vacancy in the northern diocese.\n\nThe 55-year-old cleric succeeds Bishop Roberto Mallari, who was recently installed as bishop of the Diocese of Tarlac earlier this year.\n\nCurrently, Bishop-elect Agcaracar serves as the rector of the Divine Word Seminary in Tagaytay City and holds the position of provincial admonitor for the SVD Philippine Central Province.\n\nOriginally from Claveria, Cagayan, Agcaracar was raised in a farming family and began his ministry as a teacher and volunteer catechist at St. Joseph Parish. He subsequently joined the Society of the Divine Word seminary, undertaking philosophical studies at Christ the King Seminary in Quezon City and theological formation at the Divine Word School of Theology in Tagaytay.\n\nOrdained in 2007, his early assignments included directing the high school department of Divine Word College of Calapan in Oriental Mindoro. He later contributed as an educator at the Divine Word Seminary and the Divine Word Institute of Mission Studies, both in Tagaytay.\n\nAgcaracar furthered his academic pursuits by earning a doctorate in missiology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He is also the founder and current leader of the SVD Laudato Si’ Farm in Tagaytay, reflecting his commitment to ecological stewardship in line with Church teachings.\n\nThe Diocese of San Jose, one of two dioceses in Nueva Ecija alongside Cabanatuan, covers the northern areas of the province. The date for Agcaracar’s formal episcopal ordination and installation as the fifth bishop of San Jose will be disclosed at a later time.