Julius Tonel

Julius Sullan Tonel (born 31 August 1956) is a Filipino Catholic bishop appointed as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Zamboanga in April 2023. Previously he had served as bishop of Ipil since 2007.

Biography
Julius Tonel was born on 31 August 1956 to Primitivo Estrada Tonel (+) and Filipina Coching Sullan (+), both hailing from the province of Aklan. He is the youngest of six siblings.

In 1972 he graduated in high school at the Saint Francis Xavier Minor Seminary. In 1976 he completed his philosophical studies at the Saint Francis Xavier College Seminary, Davao City; later he would proceed with his theological studies at the University of Santo Tomas Central Seminary in Manila.

On 7 December 1979, Seminarian Julius Tonel was ordained to the diaconate by His Eminence Agnelo Cardinal Rossi, then-Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, at Santo Domingo Parish in Quezon City. On 12 April 1980, the Reverend Deacon Julius Tonel was ordained to the priesthood at Santa Ana Church in Davao City by the Most Reverend Pedro Dean, Auxiliary Bishop of Davao.

In the initial years of his ministry in Davao City, Father Tonel would be designated as Parochial Vicar of St. Jude Thaddaeus Parish, and of the San Pedro Cathedral. Likewise, he would be appointed as Director of the Archdiocesan Family and Life Apostolate. From 1982 to 1986, he would be assigned as Prefect of Discipline and, later, as Rector of the Saint Francis Xavier College Seminary; he would also be working with the vocations promotion ministry of the Archdiocese.

From 1986 to 1990, Father Tonel would proceed with his postgraduate studies at the Pontifical Institute of Liturgy, Sant'Anselmo, Rome, completing a Licentiate in Sacred Liturgy. From 1990 to 2002, he would be assigned as a formator of the Saint Francis Xavier Regional Major Seminary of Mindanao (Davao City)—subsequently ministering as Spiritual Director, as Vice-Rector and Professor, and eventually as Seminary Rector in 1997. At the same time, Father Tonel would be appointed to several ministries: as Director of the Archdiocesan Liturgical Center in Davao; as President of the Archdiocesan Commission on Basic Ecclesial Communities; and as a consultor at the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Liturgy. In 2002, he was appointed Vicar General for the Archdiocese of Davao. Concurrently as Vicar General, Monsignor Julius Tonel was also the Parish Priest of the Ascension of the Lord Parish in Matina, Davao City, for four years. Likewise, he would be serving as the Chaplain of the Shrine of the Holy Infant of Prague in 2004, and as Parish Priest of San Pablo Parish in Matina in 2006.

Bishop of Ipil
On 30 June 2007, the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI appointed Monsignor Julius Tonel as the third bishop for the Prelature of Ipil. The episcopal ordination was held on 20 August 2007, at the San Pedro Cathedral in Davao City, with then-Archbishop Fernando Capalla as the principal consecrator, and assisted by then-Zamboanga Archbishop Romulo Valles, and then-Cagayan De Oro Archbishop (and former Bishop of Ipil) Antonio Ledesma, SJ. The new Bishop of Ipil took possession of the Prelature on 11 September 2007, at the Saint Joseph the Worker Cathedral in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay.

With the elevation of the territorial Prelature of Ipil to the rank of Diocese, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Tonel as the First Bishop of the Diocese of Ipil on 3 May 2010. From 2011 to 2016, he would also take office as the Chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Liturgy of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

Archbishop of Zamboanga
On 25 April 2023, the Holy Father Pope Francis appointed Bishop Julius Tonel to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Zamboanga as its seventh archbishop, succeeding the late Archbishop Romulo Dela Cruz, who served the post from May 2014 until his death from illness in December 2021. On 22 August 2023, His Eminence Jose Cardinal Advincula, Archbishop of Manila, presided in the Holy Mass for the Canonical Installation of Archbishop Julius Tonel to the Metropolitan See of Zamboanga. Archbishop Julius Tonel was also designated to the CBCP Permanent Council as the Regional Representative for South Mindanao last 8 July 2023.