Bishop of Bacabal
Armando Martín Gutiérrez, F.A.M., was born on December 16, 1954, in Madrid, Spain. He completed his primary and secondary studies at the *Collegio Amore Misericordioso* in Lujua, Spain, and pursued courses in Philosophy and Theology at the *Istituto Teologico Marchigiano* in Fermo, Italy. He obtained a Licentiate in Moral Theology from the Pontifical Alphonsian Academy in Rome. He made his first profession in the Congregation of the Sons of Merciful Love on September 8, 1974, and his perpetual profession in 1978. He was ordained a priest on October 6, 1979, in Rome. Since then, he has served in the following roles in Italy: Head of the Congregation’s Minor Seminary in Collevalenza (Perugia), Vice-Rector of the Clergy House in Perugia, and Assistant Novice Master in Matrice (Campobasso). In 1988, he went to Brazil, to the Diocese of Mogi das Cruzes (São Paulo), where he held the following positions: Novice Master (1988–2002), Parochial Vicar (1988–2002), Professor of Ethics at the Diocesan Seminary and of Moral Theology at the Paul VI Institute of Philosophy and Theology (1992–2002), and Community Superior (1993–2002). In the Diocese of Juiz de Fora, he served as Master of Juniors, Community Superior, and Parochial Vicar (2003–2005). Since December 2005, he has been in Italy serving as Master of the International Juniorate for his Congregation, Community Superior, and Assistant Pastor of the Santa Petronilla Parish in the Archdiocese of Fermo.