(UCAN): Pope Francis appointed 58-year-old Father Eliseo Napiere of Mission Society of the Philippines [MSP] as the superior of the Missio sui iuris [independent mission] to the small Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu on June 3, CBCP News reported on June 4.
Father Napiere succeeds Bishop Reynaldo Getalado, who was ordained and installed coadjutor bishop of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands on April 27.
A missio sui iuris is a special mission established by the pope for a remote region with few Catholics. Funafuti has a population of around 11,000 including 110 Catholics belonging to one parish, the report said.
Born in Maribojoc town in Bohol province in the Philippines, Father Napiere was ordained priest on 19 January 1991, for the MSP.
From 1991 to 1992, he was parish vicar of the Blessed Sacrament Parish in Cebu City, and Scholastic Director and Procurator of Fil-Mission Seminary Tagaytay City from 1992 to 1994.
From 1994 to 1999, he was a member of the MSP General Council and bursar general.
He was a missionary to the Diocese of Taichung in Taiwan from 2002 to 2016.
Father Napiere has been parish priest of Saint James the Less Perris parish in Diocese of San Bernardino, California, US, since 2018.
