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Ryan Pagente Jimenez
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Ryan Pagente Jimenez

Archbishop of Agaña
Archbishop
1971
2003
Ordained
2016
Consecrated Bishop
Agaña
Diocese
United States
Country
The Life

Ryan Pagente Jimenez was born December 18, 1971, in Dumaguete, Negros Oriental, in the Philippines, and grew up on the island of Siquijor. He studied at San Jose Major Seminary of the Ateneo de Manila University and completed theological formation at Saint Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park, California. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa in the Northern Mariana Islands on June 8, 2003. His episcopal motto is 'Volumus Iesum videre' (We would like to see Jesus).

Pope Francis appointed Jimenez Bishop of Chalan Kanoa on June 24, 2016; he was consecrated August 14, 2016. He became a leading figure among the Pacific hierarchy, elected president of the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific (CEPAC) in November 2023 and vice president of the Federation of Catholic Bishops' Conferences of Oceania in May 2024. He is the first Filipino-born prelate to lead the Church in Guam.

On July 6, 2024, Pope Francis appointed Jimenez the fourth Archbishop of Agana (Agaña), Guam. He was installed August 15, 2024, the Solemnity of the Assumption, at the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica in Hagatna, succeeding Archbishop Michael J. Byrnes (who resigned in March 2023 due to Alzheimer's and died May 30, 2025). As of mid-2026 Jimenez sits as the reigning Archbishop of Agana, inheriting an archdiocese still recovering from a devastating clergy sexual-abuse crisis and Chapter 11 bankruptcy that unfolded under his disgraced predecessor Anthony Apuron.

Major Works & Initiatives
Leadership through the Agana bankruptcy recovery
Jimenez took charge of an archdiocese that had emerged from a Chapter 11 reorganization tied to more than 270 clergy sexual-abuse claims. His stated governing priority is rebuilding trust and financial and spiritual stability rather than liturgical reform.
President of the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific (CEPAC)
Elected in November 2023, giving him a regional leadership profile across the Pacific islands before his elevation to Agana.
Installation homily of contrition (Aug. 15, 2024)
At his installation he publicly acknowledged the Church's betrayal of abuse survivors and pledged patient outreach to those who had lost trust, setting the tone of his early tenure.
In His Own Words
Controversies
Inherited abuse crisis and bankruptcy (Apuron era)
The Archdiocese of Agana was engulfed by a clergy sexual-abuse scandal centered on former Archbishop Anthony Apuron, who was suspended in 2016 and found guilty by a Vatican tribunal of abuse of minors. Facing more than 270 abuse lawsuits, the archdiocese filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on January 16, 2019. This is the wounded institution Jimenez inherited, not a controversy of his own making.
No personal liturgical or doctrinal controversy on record
As of mid-2026 Jimenez has not been the subject of any documented liturgical, doctrinal, or governance controversy of his own. His public record is dominated by pastoral healing language rather than disputed positions.
Domus Dei’s Verdict
The Bishop & the Mass of Ages
Too early to judge

There is no evidence of any regular, established Traditional Latin Mass in the Archdiocese of Agana. The only traceable instance is a Tridentine sung Mass celebrated in Agana Heights in November 2012, offered with the permission of the archbishop of that time -- under Anthony Apuron, and nearly a decade before Traditionis Custodes. No FSSP, ICKSP, or SSPX apostolate, chapel, or Mass site has been located anywhere in Guam or the Marianas. Published archdiocesan Mass schedules through late 2025 list only the ordinary form.

Archbishop Jimenez has issued no Traditionis Custodes decree, no restriction, and no permission or liturgical policy on the older rite that can be found in the public record. This is unsurprising: with no standing TLM community in the archdiocese, there is effectively nothing for such a decree to regulate. His entire early governance has been consumed by the abuse-recovery mandate -- trust, healing, and financial stability -- rather than the liturgy wars that define other dioceses.

The honest verdict is that Jimenez has a thin-to-nonexistent record on the traditional liturgy, in either direction. He has neither promoted nor publicly suppressed it. He should not be counted a friend of Tradition on the strength of a single pre-TC Mass permitted by a predecessor, nor an enemy absent any hostile act. This is a too-early-to-judge case: watch for whether, as the archdiocese stabilizes, any traditional community petitions him and how he responds.

References & Further Reading
1.
Ryan Jimenez — Wikipedia contributors · en.wikipedia.org · 2026Birth Dec. 18, 1971 Dumaguete; ordained June 8, 2003; Bishop of Chalan Kanoa 2016; appointed Agana July 6, 2024; installed Aug. 15, 2024.
2.
Brief chat with Guam Archbishop Ryan Jimenez: Mending a fractured church — Pacific Island Times · pacificislandtimes.com · 2024Source for installation quotes on betrayed trust and reaching out to survivors.
3.
New archbishop-elect Ryan Jimenez vows to prioritize 'trust' and 'healing' — Isla Public / KPRG · islapublic.org · 2024July 9, 2024 quotes on taking his time and rebuilding trust.
4.
Archbishop Michael J. Byrnes, Detroit native who led Church in Guam, dies at 66 — Detroit Catholic / OSV News · detroitcatholic.com · 2025Byrnes resigned March 2023 (Alzheimer's), died May 30, 2025, age 66.
5.
Guam's Catholic Church To File Bankruptcy Amid Deluge Of Sex Abuse Lawsuits — NPR · npr.org · 2018Apuron scandal and bankruptcy context inherited by Jimenez.
6.
'Traditional Tridentine Latin Mass', Agana Heights, Guam — YouTube · youtube.com · 2012Only located TLM instance in the archdiocese: a 2012 Missa Cantata with the then-archbishop's permission, pre-Traditionis Custodes; not an ongoing apostolate.
Portrait: GiovanniYosh12 (Author of this aesthetic version) / Wikimedia Commons
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