The Bulletin of the Holy See Press Office published on October 12 two provisions concerning the Church in the Dominican Republic. In the first, the Pontiff accepts the resignation of Ozoria Acosta and indicates that he is succeeded by Morel Diplán, “until now coadjutor archbishop of the same archdiocese.” In the second, Leo XIV likewise accepts Ozoria’s resignation as military ordinary and appoints the new metropolitan archbishop to that post.
A succession planned since 2025
The change comes as no surprise. Leo XIV appointed Morel Diplán coadjutor archbishop with right of succession on October 18, 2025, and the prelate took possession on November 10 of that year, according to his biographical profile on the Dominican Episcopal Conference website. Canon 409 of the Code of Canon Law states that, when a see becomes vacant, the coadjutor who has already taken possession immediately becomes bishop of the diocese for which he was appointed.
Ozoria Acosta, who had governed the archdiocese since 2016, turned 75 on October 10. That is the age at which canon 401 asks bishops to submit their resignation, and the acceptance arrived just two days later.
A moral theologian formed in Rome
Morel Diplán was born in 1969 in Monte de la Jagua, in the province of Espaillat. He studied Philosophy and Theology at the Pontifical Seminary of St. Thomas Aquinas in Santo Domingo and was ordained a priest on June 24, 2000. In 2007 he obtained a licentiate in Moral Theology from the Alfonsian Academy in Rome.
A large part of his ministry in the archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros was devoted to the formation of the clergy. He served as rector of the Minor Seminary and of the San Pío X Philosophy House, director of the School of Permanent Deacons of St. Stephen, professor of Ethics at the Pontifical Catholic University Mother and Teacher, and episcopal vicar for the Clergy. He received episcopal ordination as auxiliary of Santiago on February 25, 2017. Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of La Vega in December 2023, and in October 2024 he became diocesan bishop of that see.
No public statements on the traditional liturgy
The new archbishop has not intervened publicly in the debates that have divided the episcopate in recent years. No statement of his is on record regarding Traditionis custodes, the 2021 motu proprio that restricted the celebration with the 1962 Missal, nor regarding Fiducia supplicans, the declaration of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith of December 2023 on the blessing of couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples.
He has, however, addressed moral issues. In his homily at the Te Deum for the 182nd anniversary of Independence last February, he warned of the spread of ideologies that seek to normalize behaviors contrary to the natural law, which he described as “objectively disordered,” according to the newspaper El Día. In the same homily he maintained that the crisis of Dominican society is above all moral, and not merely economic or political. Upon taking possession as coadjutor he summarized his pastoral program in three verbs: to serve, to listen, and to accompany.
With today’s appointment, Morel Diplán also assumes the Military Ordinariate, responsible for the pastoral care of members of the Dominican Armed Forces.