POPE FRANCIS appointed Thomasian Archbishop Bernardito Auza as the new apostolic nuncio to Spain and Andorra on Oct. 1.
He finished his undergraduate and master’s degrees in the University in 1981 and 1986, respectively. He entered the UST Central Seminary in 1977.
The archbishop will replace Italian Archbishop Renzo Fratini, who has been papal envoy since 2009.
Auza was born in Bohol and was ordained priest for the Diocese of Tagbilaran in 1985. The following year, he was incardinated to the Diocese of Talibon.
He served as a diplomat of the Holy See in 1990, when he became the nuncio to Madagascar, Bulgaria and Albania.
He has been serving as the Holy See’s permanent observer to the United Nations in New York since 2014.
Auza’s appointment comes less than two years before the anniversary of the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines through Spanish missionaries in 1521.
The archbishop will assume the post in Madrid on Dec. 1.
