The Holy Father has appointed Rev. Fr. Julio Angkel, of the clergy of the Caroline Islands as coadjutor bishop of the diocese of the Caroline Islands, in Micronesia. He is currently pastor of the Holy Family Parish, director of the Vocations and Formation Office, and director of the St. John Vianney Formation House,
The Holy See Press Office announced the appointment in a release on Saturday. Angkel was the second Chuukese to be ordained in the history of the diocese of the Caroline Islands.
Fr. Julio Angkel was born in the island of Parem, Chuuk State, in the Federated States of Micronesia. He studied at local Catholic schools (Chuuk High School) and at the University of Guam, where he resided for his discernment. In 1976, he began his journey to priestly formation at the San Jose Seminary at the University of Manila in the Philippines. He later transferred to the Pacific Regional Seminary of Suva, Fiji. He was ordained a priest on 13 December 1983, as the second Chuukese priest in the history of the diocese. He has carried out his pastoral ministry in most parishes in the Vicariate of Chuuk and has a good knowledge of the parishes in the vicariates of Pohnpei and Kosrae.
Since his ordination in December 1983, Angkel has served as a priest in most of Chuuk’s parishes, and he has a good knowledge of the parishes in Pohnpei and Kosrae. As coadjutor bishop for the diocese of the Caroline Islands, he will also oversee the Catholic Church in Palau.
