Ryan Jimenez

Ryan Pagente Jimenez (born December 18, 1971) is a Filipino-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as the second bishop of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa in the Northern Mariana Islands since 2016, after five and a half years as apostolic administrator there. He is also the archbishop-elect of the Archdiocese of Agaña, having been appointed in July of 2024.

Early life
Ryan Jimenez was born in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental, Philippines, on December 18, 1971, one of four children born to Rogelio and Lilia Jimenez. He grew up on Siquijor, a neighboring island, attended Larena Elementary School there from 1978 to 1984, and then studied at Saint Joseph Seminary in Negros Oriental for four years. He entered the San Jose Major Seminary on the campus of Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City and earned his bachelor's degree in 1992. As a member of the Jesuits Volunteers Philippines he worked as a community organizer in the southern Philippines for a year. From 1993 to 1995, he taught at a Jesuit high school in Cebu City, Sacred Heart School for Boys. He then fulfilled his first assignment in the Northern Marianas, teaching from 1995 to 1997 at Eskuelan San Francisco de Borja, a small Catholic school on the island of Rota. He completed his studies in preparation for ordination at Saint Patrick's Seminary and University in Menlo Park, California, earning by 2003 a bachelor's in sacred theology and master's degrees in divinity and in theology.

On June 8, 2003, Jimenez was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa by Bishop Tomas Aguon Camacho in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral. He next served at Kristo Rai parish in Garapan village on the island of Saipan from 2003 to 2007. His other assignments included terms as a member of the priests council, personal secretary to the bishop from 2003 to 2010, spiritual director of the Cursillo movement from 2005 to 2007, rector of the cathedral parish in 2007/08, president of the diocesan commission for the cultural heritage of the Church in 2008/09, and diocesan chancellor in 2009/10. He was also editor of the weekly diocesan newspaper and superintendent of Catholic schools.

He was apostolic administrator of the diocese from December 28, 2010 to June 24, 2016.

Bishop of Chalan Kanoa
Pope Francis appointed Jimenez the Bishop of Chalan Kanoa on June 24, 2016. On August 14, 2016, he was consecrated as bishop by Archbishop Savio Tai Fai Hon, secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. On the morning of his episcopal consecration, a cycling event called Bike The Faith celebrated his efforts to build interfaith community.

He trained for and ran several marathons while bishop, beginning with the Honolulu Marathon in 2016, then New York in 2017, Bordeaux in 2019, and Chicago in 2021.

He continued to further his education through Fordham University's Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education, which provides electronic outreach to hard-to-reach communities. He said he needed to learn about accompanying diverse communities, both the LGBT community and the migrants from diverse traditions who feel unwelcome in unfamiliar institutions.

In November 2023, he was elected president of the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific (CEPAC). In May 2024, he was elected vice president of a larger umbrella organization, Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania (FCBCO).

Appointment as Archbishop
On July 6, 2024, Pope Francis appointed Jimenez Archbishop of Agaña in Guam, its ninth ordinary and its fourth metropolitan archbishop. His installation is scheduled for August 15, 2024, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral Basilica in Hagåtña.