Prelate of Bocas del Toro
He was born in Puerto Armuelles, Chiriquí, Panama, on January 25, 1958. He completed his primary and secondary education at Colegio San Agustín in Panama (1964–1975). In 1976, he began his novitiate at the Convent of Nuestra Señora de Valentuñana in Sos del Rey Católico (Zaragoza, Spain). He made his temporary profession in September 1977 at that same convent and his solemn profession at Colegio San Agustín in Panama in September 1980. He studied Philosophy and Theology at the San Vicente Ferrer Faculty in Valencia (Spain), obtaining a bachelor's degree in 1982. He was ordained a deacon in Valencia on October 31, 1981, and a priest by Monsignor Martín Legarra, OAR, at Colegio San Agustín in Panama on October 24, 1982. He obtained a Licentiate in Dogmatic Theology from the Gregorian University in Rome after completing his studies there from 1983 to 1985. Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Bishop of Bocas del Toro (Panama) on May 1, 2008. His episcopal consecration took place on June 21, 2008, in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Positions held: Vicar of the Totonicapán parish in Guatemala (1982–1983). Between 1983 and 1985, he resided at the San Ildefonso International College (Rome) to pursue theological studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he obtained a Licentiate in Dogmatic Theology. Parish vicar and person in charge of vocational ministry in Panama (1985–1987); professor of Dogmatic Theology at the San José Seminary in Panama (1985–1987); professor at the Salesian Philosophy and Theology schools in Guatemala (1989–1993) and of Fundamental Theology at the Central American Institute of Religious Sciences, affiliated with Rafael Landívar University (Guatemala) (1993–1997). He was responsible for the formation of Augustinian Recollect seminarians in Panama (1987–1989) and Guatemala (1989–1998). He served as Parochial Vicar in Totonicapán (1998) and Parish Priest in Quetzaltenango (1999–2001), returning to Totonicapán (Guatemala) as Parish Priest in 2001. He was the delegate for his Augustinian Province in Guatemala (1998–2004). Following the 2007 provincial chapter, he returned to Panama to serve at San José Parish in Almirante, within the Bocas del Toro mission. His roles within the Panamanian Episcopal Conference (CEP) include serving as President of the Sections for Indigenous Pastoral Care and Interreligious Dialogue; he is currently the Bishop President of the Council for Family, Life, and Youth.