Type: | Archbishop |
Honorific Prefix: | The Most Reverend |
Rolando Octavus Joven Tria Tirona | |
Honorific Suffix: | OCD |
Metropolitan Archbishop Emeritus of Cáceres | |
See: | Cáceres |
Appointed: | 8 September 2012 |
Enthroned: | 22 November 2012 |
Retired: | 22 February 2024 |
Predecessor: | Leonardo Z. Legaspi |
Successor: | Rex Andrew C. Alarcón |
Other Post: | Auxiliary Bishop of Manila Bishop of Malolos Prelate of Infanta Titular Bishop of Vulturaria |
Ordination: | 21 April 1974 |
Consecration: | 29 December 1994 |
Consecrated By: | Jaime Cardinal Sin |
Birth Name: | Rolando Octavus Joven Tria Tirona |
Birth Date: | 22 July 1946 |
Birth Place: | Kawit, Cavite, Philippines |
Religion: | Roman Catholic |
Education: | Centro Escolar University |
Alma Mater: | San Beda University |
Motto: | Christi Sumus |
Bishop Name: | Rolando Octavus Joven T. Tirona |
Dipstyle: | The Most Reverend |
Offstyle: | Your Excellency |
Relstyle: | Archbishop |
Rolando Octavus Joven Tria Tirona, OCD (born July 22, 1946), is a prelate of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. He is the Metropolitan Archbishop Emeritus of Cáceres in Naga, Philippines, serving from 2012 to 2024.[1] Appointed to succeed the retiring Archbishop Leonardo Legaspi, Pope Francis accepted his resignation on February 22, 2024 and made Rex Andrew Alarcón, then Bishop of Daet, as his successor. Until Alarcón’s installation, Tirona continued serving as Apostolic Administrator.
Rolando Tirona was born on July 22, 1946, in Kawit, he finished his elementary and secondary education at Centro Escolar University in 1952 and 1958. He completed a degree in political science at San Beda College before he entered San Carlos Seminary in Makati to finish philosophy in 1968.[2] He entered Carmel on August 15, 1964, and solemnly professed vows on February 10, 1968. He was ordained priest on April 21, 1974, in Rome. He was ordained as bishop on December 29, 1994, at the Manila Cathedral.
He served as Auxiliary Bishop of Manila from 1994 to 1996. He was appointed apostolic administrator of Malolos in January 1996 and served as bishop of the Diocese of Malolos from 1996 to 2003. He became the bishop of Infanta in Quezon province for nine years (2003–2012).[3]
On September 8, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI elevated Tirona to Archbishop of Caceres, replacing the retiring Leonardo Legaspi.[2]
The Archdiocese of Cáceres is a Metropolitan See that comprises the Bicol region, while directly overseeing the third, fourth and fifth congressional districts of Camarines Sur and is centered in Naga. The Archdiocese, having been founded in 1595 in the Royal City of Nueva Caceres (modern-day Naga), is considered one of the oldest in the Philippines with Cebu, Segovia and Manila, and once had jurisdiction that stretched from Samar in the south to Isabela Province in the north. The seat of the Archdiocese is in Pilgrim City of Naga.
On April 21, 2024, Tria Tirona celebrated the Golden jubilee of his ordination in a thanksgiving Mass at the Naga Cathedral.[4]