Pope names Filipino priest in Australia auxiliary bishop of Perth

February 4, 2026 – 4:55 PM

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Pope Leo XIV on Monday, Feb. 2, appointed a Filipino priest based in Australia as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Perth.

Bishop-elect Nelson Po, 57, will assist Archbishop Timothy John Costelloe in the pastoral care of the archdiocese in Western Australia, alongside Auxiliary Bishop Donald George Sproxton.

Po said his appointment came as a “big surprise.”

“It was overwhelming and surreal because I have never dreamed of becoming a bishop,” Po said. “I went straight to the chapel and became very emotional. I felt inadequate and unworthy, but I know that God’s strength will carry me through.”

Costelloe described Po as a priest well known for his pastoral sensitivity, commitment to his people, love for the Church and its liturgy, and generosity in taking on responsibilities beyond his parish duties.

“The laity, religious and clergy of the Archdiocese have been gifted with a new and dynamic shepherd who will bring many gifts to the pastoral leadership of the Archdiocese of Perth,” the archbishop said.

At the time of his appointment, Po was serving as parish priest of St. Benedict’s Parish in Applecross, within the Perth archdiocese.

Po was born in 1968 in Cantuhaon, a village in the town of Palompon in Leyte province. He earned a degree in industrial engineering from the then Leyte Institute of Technology, now Eastern Visayas State University, in Tacloban City.

After several years working in his profession, he entered the Blessed Sacrament Congregation and completed a master’s degree in theology, majoring in pastoral ministry, at Maryhill School of Theology in Manila.

In 2003, at the invitation of then-Archbishop Barry Hickey, now retired, Po arrived in Perth to continue his priestly formation at St. Charles Seminary in Guildford as a seminarian for the archdiocese.

Po is the second Filipino bishop in Australia, after Auxiliary Bishop Rene Ramirez of the Archdiocese of Melbourne. Ramirez was

appointed

by Pope Francis in November 2024 and

ordained bishop

on Feb. 1, 2025.