Bishop of Orihuela-Alicante
Bishop José Ignacio Munilla Aguirre was born on 13 November 1961 in Zumárraga, Guipúzcoa, diocese of San Sebastián. He carried out his ecclesiastical studies in the major seminary of Toledo, obtaining a licentiate in spiritual theology at the Facultad de Teología del Norte de España, Burgos. He was ordained a priest on 29 June 1986 for the diocese of San Sebastián. From 1986 to 1990 served as coadjutor of the parish of Asunción, and from 1990 to 2006, as parish priest of El Salvador. He was appointed as bishop of Palencia on 24 June 2006, and was consecrated the following 10 September. On 21 November 2009 he was appointed as bishop of San Sebastián. Within the Spanish Episcopal Conference he has served as a member of the Episcopal Commission for Consecrated Life (2006-2008), for the Lay Apostolate (2008-2013), and for Social Communications Media (2011-2017). Since March 2020 he has been a member of the Episcopal Commission for Social Communications.