Auxiliary Bishop-elect Andres “Andy” C. Ligot, J.C.D.

Bishop-elect Andres “Andy” C. Ligot serves the Diocese of San José as Vicar General/Chancellor and Pastor of St. Elizabeth of Portugal Parish in Milpitas. On August 29, 2025, Pope Leo XIV appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of San José, recognizing a priestly ministry marked by pastoral care, juridical expertise, and quiet fidelity to the people of God.

Born on November 30, 1965, in Laoag City, Philippines, to Ismael Ligot and Eulalia Cantoria, he was baptized in January 1966 at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Bacarrá, Ilocos Norte. His formation began close to home—St. Mary’s Seminary (Laoag) for high school and San Pablo College Seminary (Baguio), where he earned a B.A. in Philosophy and a minor in Sociology (1986).

Bishop-elect Ligot taught Philosophy at the Manila Central University in Manila before entering San Jose Seminary at the Ateneo de Manila University for his first two years of theological studies. He was later sent to Pamplona, Spain, to attend the Colegio Eclesiastico Internacional Bidasoa, an International Seminary, where he completed his seminary formation in 1992. He finished all academic units in the M.A. in Philosophy program (1988) at the University of Santo Tomas (Manila).

On June 14, 1992, he was ordained a priest at Saint Peter’s Basilica by Pope St. John Paul II for the Diocese of Laoag in the Philippines. Bishop-elect Ligot’s assignments after ordination in the Philippines, included parochial vicar at St. Andrew Parish in Bacarra Ilocos Norte, parochial vicar at St. William Cathedral in Laoag City, director of the Diocese of Laoag’s Commission on Christian Education, and the national coordinator for “Evangelization 2000” — a universal church project aimed to rejuvenate and spread the Christian faith in anticipation of the third millennium. He was also the director of the national office for the Catholic School of Evangelization for Asia in Manila.

From 1995 to 1999, he served as director of the Casa Sacerdotal Padre Baraee and chaplain of the University Medical Center at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain. He holds an M.A. in Sacred Theology (1992), a Licentiate in Canon Law (JCL) (1997), and a Doctorate in Canon Law (JCD) (1999) from the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain.

After completing his doctorate, Bishop-elect Ligot came to the United States in the summer of 1999, where he served at the Church of Nativity in Menlo Park and a chaplain at the Veterans Medical Center in San Francisco. Bishop Patrick McGrath asked him to work at the Tribunal first as Defender of the Bond and later as Judge. After three years in the Tribunal, he was assigned as Parochial Vicar at St. John Vianney College from 2003 to 2005. He was incardinated into the Diocese of San José on March 30, 2004.

His diocesan assignments included: Parochial Vicar at St. John Vianney (2003–2005); Pastor at St. Lawrence the Martyr (2005–2009); Judicial Vicar (2008–2021); Pastor at St. Elizabeth of Portugal (2021–present); and Vicar General/Chancellor (2023–present). He ministers in English, Spanish, Tagalog, and Ilocano.

Away from the tribunal bench and the parish, Bishop-elect Ligot is known for his love of travel and for organizing pilgrimages—especially across Europe—with friends and parishioners. One day, he hopes to make a long road trip across the United States to visit national parks and monuments—a pastor’s vacation with a teacher’s curiosity.