Pope Francis has appointed Auxiliary Bishop Moises Cuevas of Zamboanga as the apostolic administrator “sede plena” of the same archdiocese of the Philippines, reported CBCP News.

The appointment was made on August 11 but was only made public by the archdiocese on August 12.

As administrator, the archdiocese said that Cuevas will have “all the powers and duties of a diocesan bishop”.

Normally, the pope appoints an apostolic administrator when a see is vacant or “sede vacante”, but “sede plena” is a term used to signify that a see is still occupied by a bishop.

Hence, Archbishop Romulo de la Cruz, who just turned 74 last June, continues to be the head of the southern Philippine archdiocese while he is recovering from a stroke.

Born in Batangas province’s Cuenca town, Moises was ordained a priest for the Zamboanga archdiocese in 2000.

On March 19, 2020, the pope appointed him as auxiliary bishop of Zamboanga.

The 47-year old was ordained to episcopacy and was officially installed to his post on Aug. 24 of the same year.

The jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Zamboanga includes Zamboanga City, with suffragans in Basilan (Territorial Prelature of Isabela, Basilan), and Zamboanga Sibugay (Diocese of Ipil). It became Mindanao’s first diocese in 1910 and was established as the second archdiocese of Mindanao in 1958. Today the archdiocese covers a land area of 1,648 square kilometers and has a population of 442,345, of which 81 percent are Catholics. The archdiocese includes 27 parishes and one quasi-parish served by 49 diocesan and 18 religious priests. There are also 51 religious sisters working in the archdiocese. 

The Catholic faith was brought to Zamboanga by Jesuit missionaries Melchor de Vera and Alejandro Lopez in 1635. Zamboanga was established as an archdiocese on May 15, 1958, by Pope Pius XII.

Among the Catholic institutions in the Archdiocese of Zamboanga are 2 colleges, 6 secondary schools, 6 elementary schools, and 8 kindergarten schools. Charitable and social institutions include a leprosarium, 5 free clinics, 1 orphanage, and 1 child center.