Bishop Buco named Judicial Vicar of Philippine Appellate Tribunal

February 4, 2024 - 1:54 PM
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Auxiliary Bishop Nolly Buco of Antipolo delivers his homily during Mass at the Sta. Maria Goretti Parish Church, located inside the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Manila on Jan. 28, 2024, the second day of the CBCP 127th plenary assembly. (CBCP News)

Auxiliary Bishop Nolly Buco of Antipolo is the new head of a Church office that handles marriage nullity cases in the Philippines.

Buco, who also serves as the apostolic administrator of Catarman, has taken over the office from Bishop Emeritus Antonio Tobias of Novaliches, who served as the Judicial Vicar of the National Tribunal of Appeals since January 2018.

The 60-year-old canon lawyer took his oath of office on Saturday at the beginning of the bishops’ three-day plenary assembly, along with other officials of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, for the term December 2023 to November 2025.

Known as the office’s “Instructor Delegate,” Buco will also oversee the CBCP Office of Dispensation and Dismissal that handles cases of clerics.

In the Antipolo diocese, Buco continues to serve as the Judicial Vicar, a post he has held since before becoming a bishop in 2018.