{{Short description|Filipino Catholic bishop (born 1965)}} {{Use mdy|date=May 2025}} {{Philippine name|Dean|Capucao}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = bishop | honorific_prefix = His Excellency, The Most Reverend | name = Dave Dean Capucao | honorific_suffix = D.D., STD, PhD | title = Prelate of Infanta | image = File:Bishop Dave photo.jpg | alt = | caption = Capucao in 2025 | church = Roman Catholic Church | see = Territorial Prelature of Infanta | appointed = May 16, 2025 | term_start = September 5, 2025 | predecessor = Bernardino Cortez | ordination = October 3, 1994 | ordained_by = Julio Xavier Labayen | consecration = September 5, 2025 | consecrated_by = Charles John Brown | birth_name = Dave Dean Capucao | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1965|9|25}} | birth_place = Naga, Camarines Sur, Philippines | previous_post = {{indented plainlist| *Priest, Territorial Prelature of Infanta (1994–2006; 2011–19; 2021–25) *Priest, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht (2006–11; 2020–21) * }} | alma_mater = {{ubl|Saint Louis University|Maryhill School of Theology|Radboud University Nijmegen|Katholieke Universiteit Leuven}} | motto = {{langnf|la|Sentire cum ecclesia|To feel with the Church|break=yes}} | coat_of_arms = Coat of arms of Dave Dean Capucao.svg | module = {{Ordination | denomination = Catholic | embed = yes | ordained priest by = Julio Xavier Labayen | date of priestly ordination = October 3, 1994 | place of priestly ordination = | consecrated by = Charles John Brown | co-consecrators = {{Ubl | Bernardino Cortez | Rolando Tria Tirona }} | date of consecration = September 5, 2025 | place of consecration = Infanta Cathedral, Infanta, Quezon }} }} {{Infobox bishopstyles | name = Dave Dean Capucao | dipstyle= *His Excellency *The Most Reverend | offstyle = Your Excellency | relstyle = Bishop | image = Coat of arms of Dave Dean Capucao.svg | image_size = 200px }} '''Dave Dean Capucao''' (born September 25, 1965) is a Filipino Catholic prelate who serves as the fifth Prelate of Infanta in the province of Quezon in the Philippines.
== Early life and education == Dave Dean Capucao was born on September 25, 1965, in Naga, Camarines Sur in the Philippines.<ref name="uca">{{Cite web|title=Prelate Dave Dean Capucao |url=https://www.ucanews.com/directory/bishops/prelate-capucao/1298 |website=UCA News |access-date=22 May 2025}}</ref><ref name="utrecht">{{Cite news|title=Paus Leo XIV benoemt Dave Capucao tot bisschop |trans-title=Pope Leo XIV appoints Dave Capucao as bishop |url=https://www.aartsbisdom.nl/paus-leo-xiv-benoemt-dave-capucao-tot-bisschop/ |website=Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht |lang=dutch |date=19 May 2025 |access-date=22 May 2025}}</ref> After joining the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (CICM), he studied philosophy at Saint Louis University in Baguio, followed by theology at Maryhill School of Theology in Quezon City.<ref name="vatican"/>
Capucao was sent to the Netherlands in 2000 and studied at the Catholic University of Nijmegen (later Radboud University Nijmegen),<ref name="philstar">{{Cite news|title=Pope’s 1st Pinoy appointee is bishop of Infanta |first=Bella |last=Cariaso |work=The Philippine Star |date=May 18, 2025 |url=https://www.philstar.com/nation/2025/05/18/2443927/popes-1st-pinoy-appointee-bishop-infanta |access-date=May 22, 2025}}</ref> where he earned a master's degree in intercultural and interreligious theology in 2002.<ref name="cbcp"/> He later worked as a junior researcher from 2002 to 2006,<ref name="vatican"/> and defended his doctoral dissertation on religion and ethnocentrism in 2009 at the said university.<ref name="gma">{{Cite news|title=Vatican announces Pope Leo XIV's first Filipino appointment |work=GMA Integrated News |url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/regions/946412/vatican-announces-pope-leo-xiv-s-first-filipino-appointment/story/ |date=16 May 2025 |access-date=22 May 2025}}</ref>
He earned a doctorate in Philosophy (PhD) doctorate in sacred theology (SThD) at Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium and a PhD at Radboud University Nijmegen. <ref name="uca"/>
== Ministry == === Priesthood === Capucao was ordained a priest for the Territorial Prelature of Infanta on October 3, 1994.<ref name="vatican">{{Cite web|title=Resignations and Appointments, 16.05.2025 |url=https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2025/05/16/250516c.html |website=The Holy See |date=16 May 2025 |access-date=22 May 2025}}</ref> Following his ordination, he served as parish priest of Nuestra Señora de Salvacion in Casiguran, Aurora, a post he maintained until 2000.<ref name="vatican"/>
Upon the invitation of Cardinal Adrianus Johannes Simonis, Capucao remained in the Netherlands in 2006 and was assigned to serve at St. Ludger Parish in Lichtenvoorde.<ref name="utrecht"/> In 2011, he returned to the Philippines. At the Saint Joseph Formation House in Quezon City (a seminary owned by the Territorial Prelature of Infanta), he was the academic and pastoral director, as well as the formator of the seminary from 2012 to 2014, before becoming its rector in 2015.<ref name="vatican"/> Since 2012, Capucao taught in various seminaries and theology schools in Metro Manila and nearby areas <ref name="vatican"/>
He returned to the Netherlands in 2020 and served as visiting priest at St. John the Baptist in Vinkeveen for a year (2020-2021) while taking his sabbatical leave after celebrating his 25th priesthood anniversary.<ref name="utrecht"/> When he returned back to the Philippines in 2021, he was named superintendent of the Catholic Schools of the Prelature of Infanta.<ref name="uca"/>
=== Episcopate === Pope Leo XIV appointed Capucao as the fifth Territorial Prelate of Infanta on May 16, 2025, succeeding the retiring Bernardino Cortez. He is the first Filipino bishop to be appointed, consecrated, and installed entirely under Leo since being elected. His consecration and installation was on September 5, 2025.<ref name="cbcp">{{Cite news|title=Pope Leo XIV names new Infanta prelate in first Filipino appointment |url=https://cbcpnews.net/cbcpnews/pope-leo-xiv-names-new-infanta-prelate-in-first-filipino-appointment/ |first=Roy |last=Lagarde |work=CBCP News |date=May 16, 2025 |access-date=May 22, 2025}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bcapucao.html Catholic-Hierarchy Profile]
{{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{s-bef|before=Bernardino Cortez}} {{s-ttl|title=Prelate of Infanta| years=September 5, 2025 – present}} {{s-inc}} {{s-end}}
{{Roman Catholic Territorial Prelature of Infanta}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Capucao, Dave}} Category:1965 births Category:Living people Category:Filipino Roman Catholic bishops Category:21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Philippines Category:People from Naga, Camarines Sur Category:Saint Louis University (Philippines) alumni Category:Radboud University Nijmegen alumni Category:Université catholique de Louvain alumni Category:Bishops appointed by Pope Leo XIV