Fr. Eliseo Napiere. (Photo from Saint James the Less Catholic Church/WEBSITE)
MANILA, Philippines — A Filipino priest based in California was appointed by Pope Francis as the ecclesiastical superior of the Missio sui iuris of Funafati, Tuvalu.
In the announcement of the Holy See Press Office posted on its website on Monday, the Vatican said Fr. Eliseo Napiere, a member of the Mission Society of the Philippines (MSP), will head the Missio sui iuris in the Oceanian country.
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Currently, Napier is the parish priest of Saint James the Less in Perris, California.
“The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Fr. Eliseo Napiere, M.S.P. until now member of the Presbyteral Council and parish priest of Saint James the Less in Perris, in the diocese of San Bernardino, United States of America, as ecclesiastical superior of the Missio sui iuris of Funafati, Tuvalu,” the Holy See said.
A Missio sui iuris is an independent mission conducted in areas with few Catholics, or in areas where Catholics experience persecution, and is headed by an ecclesiastical superior.
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Napier was born in 1965 in Maribojoc, Bohol, and was ordained to priesthood in 1991.
He has served as a parish vicar in Cebu City from 1991 to 1992, a seminary scholastic director and procurator in Tagaytay City from 1992 to 1994, and has been on missionary assignments in Taiwan and the United States from 2007 to 2018.