Pope Leo XIV appointed Bishop Carlos Tomás Morel Diplán, until now Bishop of La Vega, as the new Coadjutor Archbishop of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), meaning he has the right of automatic succession.
The current Archbishop of Santo Domingo is Bishop Francisco Ozoria Acosta, who turned 74 on October 10. When the Pope accepts his resignation, which should be presented when he turns 75, the retirement age for bishops, Bishop Morel Diplán will automatically become the new Metropolitan Archbishop of Santo Domingo.
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What is a coadjutor bishop?
According to the Code of Canon Law, a coadjutor bishop—in this case coadjutor archbishop—assists the diocesan bishop in the same way as an auxiliary bishop does, that is, as a collaborator under his authority.
The Pope appoints a coadjutor bishop at the request of the diocesan bishop or when he deems it appropriate. This appointment usually occurs when the diocesan is about to resign or when he or she has some impediment to continuing with the pastoral government, such as a health problem. In this case the reasons have not been made public.
The main difference between the curate and the auxiliary is that the former has automatic right of succession.
Who is the new Coadjutor Archbishop of Santo Domingo?
Mons. Carlos Tomás Morel Diplán is the new Coadjutor Archbishop of Santo Domingo. He was born on November 2, 1969 in Monte de la Jagua, Moca, Province of Espaillat, according to the Press Office of the Vatican.
He was ordained a priest on June 24, 2000 for the Archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros.
He has held, among others, the following positions: rector, vice-rector and professor of the seminary; coordinator of vocational ministry; parish priest; vicar and parish administrator; collaborator of various organizations of the diocesan curia; professor and Director of the Permanent Diaconate School in Santiago de los Caballeros.
On December 14, 2016, he was named Auxiliary Bishop of Santiago de los Caballeros, receiving episcopal consecration on February 25, 2017.
On December 2, 2023, he was named Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of La Vega and, on October 18, 2024, Bishop of the same diocese.
Walter Sánchez Silva
I have been a husband since 2008. My wife and I have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before he was born. Since I joined ACI Prensa in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Cologne, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and of Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the Family synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Synodality, in 2023. I closely follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers persecution from the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as current ecclesiastical events in the region.