Rev. Fr. Luisito Audal Occiano, the newly appointed bishop of the Diocese of Virac, will be installed at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral sometime in the last week of June 2024.
Last Feb. 29, Fr. Occiano, 52, was named to the post vacated by Msgr. Manolo A. delos Santos, also a Camarines Sur native like him, after nearly 30 years in the service of the Catholic faithful in Catanduanes.
Bishop Manolo reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 last year but was asked to stay on pending the selection of his replacement.
No date has been set for his installation as Virac bishop, according to Msgr. Delos Santos, but Occiano’s episcopal ordination as bishop will be on June 21, 2024 at the Peñafrancia Basilica in Naga City on the same day that he turns 53.
His canonical possession of the Diocese of Virac will be done during his installation, which should occur within two months after he received the apostolic letter of appointment.
This should be sometime in the last week of June, Bishop delos Santos added.
In the interim, the bishop has been appointed as the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese to ensure a smooth transition and continuity of pastoral care pending the canonical possession of the new bishop.
Rev. Fr. Occiano has a warm personality and easily connects with people, as described by then Caceres Archbishop Rolando Tria Tirona when he was installed as rector and parish priest of the Archdiocesan Shrine and Parish of Saint Joseph in San Jose, Camarines Sur in 2021.
“He relates well with people and works well with them,” Tirona was quoted as saying during the event.
He even thought of sending Occiano, then the archbishop’s secretary, for further studies in Rome to become a diplomat of the Holy See.
Born on June 21, 1971 in San Miguel, Nabua, Camarines Sur to Domingo Occiano and Ester Audal, the young Luisito finished his elementary education at La Consolacion College in Iriga City and secondary school at the Holy Rosary Minor Seminary in Naga City where he also completed his AB Philosophy in 1992.
After finishing Theology at the Holy Rosary Major Seminary in 1996, he was ordained to the priesthood on November 10, 1996 and began serving as parochial vicar at St. John the Baptist Metropolitan Cathedral in Naga City.
After ordination, he continued his studies in religious formation and catechesis at the Ateneo de Manila University, obtaining a Master of Arts in Theology from the Ateneo de Naga University in Naga City in 2004.
He has also held the following positions: Assistant Secretary of the Jubilee Executive Committee (1999); Secretary to the Archbishop; Member of the Commission on Social Communications (2002); Director of the Catechetical Ministry and Parish Vicar of St. Francis of Assisi, Naga City (2003); Vice-Rector of the Minor Basilica Our Lady of Peñafrancia, Naga City, Director of the Commission on Social Communications (2004); President of the Tricentennial Celebration and Media Committee (2008); Member of the Catechetical Ministry Council (2011); and Parish Priest and Vicar Forane of St. Bartholomew Apostle, Baao (2015-2020).