Filipino nuncio Yllana retires after decades of Vatican service

February 3, 2026 – 11:12 AM

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The Vatican has announced the retirement of Filipino Archbishop Adolfo Tito Yllana from the Holy See’s diplomatic service after 42 years.

In a bulletin issued January 22, the Vatican said Pope Leo XIV accepted Yllana’s resignation as apostolic nuncio to Israel and apostolic delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine “upon reaching the age limit.”

Yllana is 77, two years beyond the mandatory retirement age for bishops.

He will be succeeded by Italian Archbishop Giorgio Lingua, 65, who has served as apostolic nuncio to Croatia since 2019.

Yllana entered the Vatican’s diplomatic service in 1984 and represented the Holy See across four continents: Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania.

Before his appointment to Israel in June 2021 by Pope Francis, Yllana served as apostolic nuncio to Australia beginning in 2015.

Born in Naga City, Yllana was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Caceres in 1972.

After completing studies at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, he was assigned to papal missions in Ghana, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Lebanon, Hungary and Taiwan.

In December 2001, Pope St. John Paul II appointed him apostolic nuncio to Papua New Guinea and later entrusted him with the nunciature in the Solomon Islands.

He was ordained a bishop on Jan. 6, 2002, at St. Peter’s Basilica.

Pope Benedict XVI later named Yllana apostolic nuncio to Pakistan in 2006 and to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2010.