PERTH — The Catholic Archdiocese of Perth ordained its first Filipino Auxiliary Bishop on Thursday, making history with the elevation of Bishop Nelson Po during a ceremony attended by more than 1,200 people at St Mary's Cathedral.
Bishop Po, 57, became the seventh Auxiliary Bishop for Perth and only the second Filipino to hold the rank in Australia. Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe led the ordination, joined by co-consecrators including Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Charles Balvo and 19 bishops from across the country.
Another 3,000 people watched the historic occasion via livestream, including Bishop Po's mother in the Philippines. The ordination marks the first Episcopal Ordination in Perth since February 2002, when Bishop Don Sproxton was ordained.
Archbishop Costelloe encouraged the new bishop to embody "God's style" in his ministry. "You don't have to be perfect to be a bishop. You just have to be someone who is determined to keep trying, day after day," Costelloe said during the ceremony.
Bishop Po hails from Palompton, Leyte, in the Philippines and arrived in Perth in 2003. He was ordained to the priesthood in December 2005 by then-Archbishop Barry Hickey, whom he credited with encouraging him to relocate to Australia.
Before entering the priesthood, Bishop Po worked as an industrial and management engineer and later earned a master's degree in theology from Maryhill School of Theology in Manila. He served as chaplain at Royal Perth Hospital and in parishes across Perth, including Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Cloverdale and Applecross.
In his acceptance remarks, Bishop Po expressed humility and gratitude. "I am very honoured by the trust Pope Leo XIV has placed in me and also very humbled in saying yes," the Filipino bishop said.
For Filipino-Australians, Bishop Po's appointment represents significant recognition of the Filipino community's contributions to Australian Catholic life. His elevation to bishop signals the growing influence of Filipino clergy within Australia's church hierarchy and provides pastoral leadership from someone deeply familiar with Filipino culture and spirituality for the growing Filipino population across Western Australia.
Bishop Po thanked the Perth Archdiocese for its welcome and pledged to work with the community. "I look forward to living and working with you as together we continue to build up the presence of the Kingdom of God in this area of the vineyard," he said.
His family travelled from the Philippines for the ordination, including his brother Marlon and sister Evangeline, along with relatives from Melbourne.
