PAPAL CHAPLAIN. Left photo shows the Vatican document naming Cebuano priest, Rev. Msgr. Jan Thomas Limchua (right photo, in black), a Papal Chaplain. As such, the 36-year-old cleric from Cebu City, Philippines is now a member of the Pontifical Family. (Photo courtesy of the Archdiocese of Cebu)
CEBU CITY – Pope Francis has named Cebuano priest, Rev. Msgr. Jan Thomas Limchua, as a Papal Chaplain or a member of the Pontifical Family.
"With much humility and gratitude, I share to you the news that His Holiness Pope Francis has deigned to grant me the honorific rank of ‘Chaplain of His Holiness’ (Monsignore Cappellano di Sua Santità) thus making me officially part of the Pontifical Family,” the 36-year-old priest said in a statement issued by the Archdiocese of Cebu via social media on Tuesday.
Limchua was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Cebu in 2010.
"While I give thanks to the Almighty and to His Holiness for such a privileged honor bestowed upon me, my family, and the Archdiocese of Cebu, I graciously ask for your continued prayers as I, with my own limitations, commit myself more deeply to serve the Church with joy, humility and generosity. AMDG (Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam or For the Greater Glory of God),” he said.
Limchua finished his theological studies at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain. He then earned his doctorate in Canon Law at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome.
He underwent his diplomatic formation at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the diplomatic school of the Holy See. He entered the diplomatic service on July 1, 2014, and served in the countries of Benin and Togo from 2014 to 2016.
Before this latest post, Limchua was appointed official of the Section for the Relations with States of the Holy See by the Vatican’s Secretary of State, His Eminence Pietro Cardinal Parolin.
He had been based in Egypt since 2016 and is expected to move to Rome in September for his new post. (PNA)
