MANILA, Philippines โ The Catholic Bishopsโ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has appointed Scalabrinian priest Fr. Ricky Gente, a former chaplain for Filipinos in Rome, as the new executive secretary of its migrant ministry effective December 1.
Gente will work with Bishop Socrates Mesiona, who recently assumed leadership of the CBCP Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (ECMI).
He takes over the post previously held by fellow Scalabrinian missionary Fr. Roger Manalo, who served for four years.
Ordained in 1998, Gente spent decades ministering to Filipino migrants in Italy, offering pastoral care, community support, and a spiritual home for Filipinos far from their families. ECMI credited him with helping sustain Filipino Catholic traditions and cultural identity among overseas communities.
Gente was instrumental in organizing key events for Filipino Catholics in Italyโincluding the historic Simbang Gabi celebrated by Pope Francis inside St. Peterโs Basilica in 2019, the first of its kind.
In 2021, he helped mount a papal Mass in Rome to mark the 500th anniversary of Christianity in the Philippines, drawing Filipino faithful together despite pandemic restrictions.
ECMI, one of the CBCPโs longstanding commissions, focuses on โpeople-on-the-moveโโmigrants, overseas Filipino workers, seafarers, itinerants, and others whose lives require constant mobility.
It operates through regional Migration Desks and Church-based structures that coordinate pastoral programs, monitor migration trends, and advocate for the dignity and rights of migrants both in the Philippines and abroad.
Gente hails from Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay. (Photo Courtesy: CBCP News)
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