Pope Leo XIV has appointed this Wednesday, November 4, auxiliary bishops of the Archdiocese of Guadalajara, Mexico, the priests Ramón Duarte Miranda and Héctor Michel Figueroa, both from the clergy of that same archdiocese. The appointment was published by the Holy See Press Office and communicated in the country by the Apostolic Nunciature through the Mexican Episcopal Conference. The two prelates will assist the archbishop, Cardinal Francisco Robles Ortega, in pastoral governance.
With these appointments, the Archdiocese of Guadalajara will have four auxiliary bishops, as the new ones join Manuel González Villaseñor and Juan Manuel Muñoz Curiel. Robles Ortega, 77, submitted his canonical resignation upon turning 75 in March 2024 and continues to lead the see. The Code of Canon Law allows three months to receive episcopal ordination, so this could take place in the second half of January.
Ramón Duarte Miranda, episcopal vicar of San Andrés
Duarte Miranda was born on May 6, 1969, in Las Pilas, in the municipality of Encarnación de Díaz, Jalisco, and was ordained a priest on May 30, 1996, for the Archdiocese of Guadalajara. He studied Philosophy and Theology at the Major Seminary of Guadalajara and served as parochial vicar in several communities, including Mater Nostra, Sagrado Corazón (Arenales Tapatíos), San Miguel de Cocula, San Ildefonso, and Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in Las Juntas.
Throughout his ministry, he was executive secretary of the Commission for the Permanent Formation of the Clergy of the Archdiocese and ecclesiastical province of Guadalajara from 2001 to 2006, and executive secretary of Finance for the 48th International Eucharistic Congress, held in 2004. From 2013 to 2021, he was executive secretary of the Commission for International Solidarity of the Mexican Episcopal Conference, and he has also been spiritual director of the configurative stage of the seminary in Guadalajara. Until now, he was pastor of San Joaquín and, since 2023, episcopal vicar of the Vicariate of San Andrés.
Héctor Michel Figueroa, pastor of San Miguel Arcángel
Michel Figueroa was born on February 19, 1970, in Guadalajara and received priestly ordination on May 18, 1997, also for the Archdiocese. He studied Humanities, Philosophy, and Theology at the Seminary of Guadalajara. He served as associate vicar in the parishes of El Señor de la Misericordia in Ocotlán and Nuestra Señora del Rosario in Tonalá, and later as pastor of Divina Providencia in Tonalá.
His career also includes positions as prefect of discipline at the Auxiliary Seminary of Totatiche, representative of the deanery of Tonalá on the Presbyteral Council, and consultant for the admissions program of Caritas Diocesana of Guadalajara. He was dean of Cocula and pastor of San Miguel Arcángel in that locality and, since 2022, episcopal vicar of the Vicariate of the Señor Grande de Ameca.
After the news became known, both appointees expressed their gratitude: Duarte Miranda declared himself “very happy and very grateful to God,” while Michel Figueroa said he had received the news “from faith,” according to their interviews with the diocesan weekly.