This morning of May 13, the apostolic nunciature in Mexico and the Mexican Episcopal Conference (CEM) announced the appointment of José Guadalupe Torres Campos as III Bishop of the Diocese of Ecatepec, carried out by Pope Leo XIV. The designation, which coincides with the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, marks the end of a period of almost two years of vacant see in this particular Church of the State of Mexico. This vacancy opened in July 2024, when Óscar Roberto Domínguez Couttolenc, then Bishop of Ecatepec, was transferred to the metropolitan see of Tulancingo, where he is currently archbishop.
José Guadalupe Torres Campos was born on January 19, 1960 in León, Guanajuato, into a large and deeply faithful family. Son of Mr. Isaías Torres Ruiz and Mrs. Beatriz Campos Peña, he was the fifth of fifteen siblings. His priestly vocation developed from childhood. He entered the Minor Seminary of León where he completed secondary school and high school (1972-1978), and then completed philosophy (1978-1980) and theology (1980-1984) at the Major Seminary in the same city. He was ordained a priest on July 2, 1984 in the Basilica Cathedral of León.
His academic preparation was enriched with studies in Rome. At the Pontifical Gregorian University, he obtained a licentiate in Church History in 1988. Upon returning to Mexico, he developed his ministry in the dioceses of León and Irapuato. He held key roles as a professor of Church History and Patrology at the major seminary, prefect of the minor seminary, private secretary to the bishop, notary of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal, and secretary chancellor. In the pastoral field, he was a parochial vicar, pastor of Our Lady of Solitude, episcopal vicar of the Irapuato pastoral zone (1998-2003), pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe del Puente, and, after the creation of the Diocese of Irapuato in 2004, vicar general.
On December 10, 2005, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of Ciudad Juárez. He received episcopal ordination on February 22, 2006, by the laying on of hands of Renato Ascencio León, Bishop of Ciudad Juárez. On November 25, 2008, he was designated first Bishop of the newly created Diocese of Gómez Palacio, Durango, where he organized and consolidated the fundamental diocesan structures. On December 20, 2014, Pope Francis appointed him IV Bishop of Ciudad Juárez, taking canonical possession on February 20, 2015. On the northern border, his episcopate was distinguished by attention to migrants, the defense of human dignity, accompaniment of violence victims, and promotion of social pastoral care. As titular pastor, he received the apostolic visit of Pope Francis to Ciudad Juárez on February 17, 2016.
In the Mexican Episcopal Conference, Torres Campos has collaborated actively as a member of the Permanent Council for the provinces of Durango and Chihuahua, a member of the Episcopal Dimension of Justice, Peace and Reconciliation, and responsible for the Episcopal Dimension of Human Mobility, a particularly relevant assignment given the migratory phenomenon in the north of the country.
His pastoral style is characterized by closeness, serenity, and simple treatment. Those who know him highlight his sensitivity to human suffering and his commitment to a outgoing, merciful, and missionary Church, centered on evangelization, presbyteral communion, and the co-responsibility of the laity.
In his first message to the Diocese of Ecatepec, José Guadalupe Torres Campos expressed with faith and gratitude: “In addressing you for the first time, I wish to express my closeness, my gratitude, and my total disposition to walk together in this new stage that the Lord grants us to live”. He greeted with affection priests, deacons, seminarians, religious men and women, and lay faithful, commended himself to their prayers, and thanked his years in Ciudad Juárez, “a community that I carry deeply in my heart.” He invoked Saint Mary of Guadalupe to accompany this new beginning and help to be “a close, merciful, and missionary church.”
The diocesan administrator, Luis Martínez Flores, along with the vice-chancellor, Father David Valentín Rojas Rivero, received the news “with immense joy.” In their statement, they highlighted: “We give thanks to God because He has never left us alone and today He gives us a Father and Pastor, according to His Sacred Heart.” They expressed obedience and respect to the bishop elect, committed themselves to working for the good of the poorest, and entrusted the future of the diocese to the Virgin of Guadalupe.
The Diocese of Ecatepec was erected on June 28, 1995 by Saint John Paul II. It is part of the ecclesiastical province of Tlalnepantla and covers the municipality of Ecatepec and part of Tlalnepantla. It began with 58 parishes and a presbyterate of 77 priests. Its first bishop, Onésimo Cepeda Silva, was the one who gave the diocese the shape that would consolidate it. He was succeeded by Óscar Roberto Domínguez Couttolenc, M.G., whose transfer in July 2024 opened the long period of vacant see that now concludes. Currently, it has 99 parishes in 14 deaneries, served by 131 priests and a large group of religious men and women and seminarians, at the service of more than 2.3 million inhabitants.
From this blog, we wish the III Bishop of Ecatepec, José Guadalupe Torres Campos, a fruitful episcopal ministry. Congratulations!