On the morning of this Tuesday, October 7, the Mexican Episcopal Conference announced the appointment of Fr. Luis Carlos Lerma Martínez as the new bishop of the Diocese of Nuevo Laredo. Until now, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chihuahua, Lerma Martínez assumes this episcopal charge with a discreet trajectory in ecclesiastical service, marked by his pastoral and administrative dedication.
Born on July 21, 1962 in Delicias, Chihuahua, he entered the Archdiocesan Seminary of Chihuahua in 1982. He was ordained a priest on October 14, 1993 and among his studies stands out the Licentiate in Biblical Theology, obtained at the Pontifical University of Mexico between August 2006 and May 2009. This academic training has served him to be a formator and prefect of studies at the Archdiocesan Seminary of Chihuahua, roles he held in two periods: from August 2003 to June 2006 and from August 2009 to June 2011.
His trajectory spans from parish work to curial roles. He served as vice-chancellor secretary from March 1997 to September 1998, attached to the parish of San Felipe Apóstol. Subsequently, he was diocesan economist from September 1998 to September 2003 and pastor of San Francisco Javier in Satevó, Chihuahua, from January 1999 to August 2003.
In addition to his role as a formator in the seminary, he was chaplain of the State Social Readaptation Center of Santa Eulalia and spiritual advisor to the Diocesan Prison Pastoral. Appointed Vicar General on December 21, 2010, a position he held until the date of his new appointment. He was pastor of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Chihuahua in two periods (from June 8, 2011 to July 7, 2017, and from August 16, 2023 to date), and of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Guadalupe of Chihuahua from July 13, 2017 to August 15, 2023.
Since 2011, he has been an active member of several key councils in the archdiocese: the College of Consultors, the Presbyteral Council, the Council of Economic Affairs, and the Diocesan Pastoral Council.
Lerma Martínez becomes the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Nuevo Laredo, succeeding Enrique Sánchez Martínez who was appointed bishop of Mexicali on September 11, 2023. On November 6, 1989, through the Bull «Quo Facilius» – the Diocese of Nuevo Laredo was erected by the will of Pope John Paul II. Its territory comprises eleven municipalities in the states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo León: Sabinas Hidalgo, Anáhuac, Villaldama, Bustamante, Lampazos de Naranjo, Vallecillo, and Parás in Nuevo León and in Tamaulipas, Guerrero, Mier, Miguel Alemán, and Nuevo Laredo as the episcopal see, with the first bishop being the Missionary of the Holy Spirit, Ricardo Watty Urquidi. It currently has 43 parishes and 3 quasi-parishes where 65 priests serve.
From this blog, we wish the IV Bishop of Nuevo Laredo, Luis Carlos Lerma Martínez, a fruitful ministry that spreads the Good News of Salvation in that diocese on Mexico's northern border. Congratulations.
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