Fr. Victor Apacible, 44, was named to the post last week in place of Bishop Socrates Villegas, who has been designated bishop of Bataan.
Apacible is on a month-long retreat in Tagaytay City and will be back in mid-June.
Apacible, who was a dentist before he entered the seminary, headed the Lay Force of the Archdiocese of Manila before he was appointed parish priest of Mary Queen of Peace, Our Lady of EDSA Shrine.
Lay Force is based in the San Carlos Seminary along EDSA in Guadalupe Viejo, Makati City.
Apacible was also parish priest of Madonna de la Strada in Katipunan, Quezon City and pastor of Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Pasay City.
Apacible studied human development at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago in the United States.
Before joining the priesthood, Apacible was a practicing dentist in Makati.
He decided to become a priest after visiting the Medjugorje shrine in the former Yugoslavia.
Apacible is reportedly a protégé of retired archbishop of Manila Jaime Cardinal Sin. — Jose Aravilla