Resignation and appointment of bishop of Neiva, Colombia

The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Neiva, Colombia, presented by Bishop Froilán Tiberio Casas Ortíz.

The Holy Father has appointed Bishop Marco Antonio Merchán Ladino as bishop of Neiva, Colombia, transferring him from the diocese of Vélez, Colombia.

Curriculum vitae

Bishop Marco Antonio Merchán Ladino was born in Monguí, diocese of Duitama-Sogamoso, on 28 April 1970. He carried out his priestly formation at the Tunja Major Seminary. He was awarded a licentiate in philosophy and religious sciences from the Universidad Santo Tomás de Colombia in Bogotá, and a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Lateran University, Rome.

He was ordained a priest on 23 November 1996 and incardinated in the diocese of Duitama-Sogamoso.

He has held the following offices: chaplain of the Hogar Cándido Quintero in Duitama, parish vicar of Nuestra Señora de Chiquinquirá, Sogamoso, chaplain and professor at the Instituto Integrado Guillermo León Valencia in Duitama, diocesan delegate for family pastoral care, judicial vicar, parish priest of Nuestra Señora del Rosario in Sogamoso, parish priest of San Martín de Tours Cathedral in Sogamoso and San Lorenzo Cathedral in Duitama, and vicar general of the diocese.

On 26 October 2016 he was appointed bishop of Vélez, and received episcopal ordination on 3 December 2016.