MANILA – Filipino Archbishop Adolfo Tito Yllana has retired from the Holy See’s diplomatic service after 42 years, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) reported.

Pope Leo XIV accepted the resignation of the 77-year-old prelate as apostolic nuncio to Israel and apostolic delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine “upon reaching the age limit,” the bulletin said on Jan. 22. Yllana is two years beyond the mandatory retirement age for bishops.

He will be succeeded by Italian Archbishop Giorgio Lingua, 65, who has been apostolic nuncio to Croatia since 2019.

Yllana began his diplomatic career in 1984 and served the Holy See across Africa, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. Prior to his Israel appointment in June 2021 by Pope Francis, he was apostolic nuncio to Australia starting in 2015.

Born in Naga City, Yllana was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Caceres in 1972. He completed his studies at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy and served in papal missions in Ghana, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Lebanon, Hungary, and Taiwan.

In December 2001, Pope St. John Paul II appointed him apostolic nuncio to Papua New Guinea and later to the Solomon Islands. He was ordained a bishop on Jan. 6, 2002, at St. Peter’s Basilica.

Pope Benedict XVI later named Yllana apostolic nuncio to Pakistan in 2006 and to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2010.