Fr. Rufino “Jun” Sescon Jr., rector of the Minor Basilica and National Shrine of Jesus Nazareno or Quiapo Church and a third-order Dominican, has been appointed by Pope Francis as the new bishop of Balanga in Bataan.
The diocese has been without a head for more than a year after it was vacated by Bishop Ruperto Santos, who is now bishop of the Diocese of Antipolo.
Sescon, who has been Quiapo Church rector since 2022, will be the fifth bishop of Balanga and will be in charge of almost 700,000 Catholics in the diocese.
He was ordained priest on Sept. 19, 1998 for the Archdiocese of Manila.
As a diocesan cleric, Sescon professed to the Priestly Fraternities of St. Dominic on Sept. 28, 2020, at Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City.
Sescon served as aide to the late Cardinal Jaime Sin from 1998 to 2001 and secretary from 2001 to 2005.
He was chaplain of the Santo Niño de Paz Chapel in Greenbelt Mall, Makati, from 2015 to 2022 and priest in charge of Mary, Mother of Hope Chapel in Landmark from 2014 to 2022.
The 52-year-old bishop-elect is also the executive director of the Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA).
A high school alumnus of the Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Sescon finished his philosophy and theology studies at San Carlos Seminary in Makati.
