Bishop of Guanare
Owaldo Enrique Araque Valero is Bishop of Guanare, Venezuela. Owaldo Enrique Araque Valero was born on 21 May 1964 in Chiguará, Archdiocese of Mérida, Venezuela. After studying philosophy and theology at Divina Pastora Major Seminary in Barquisimeto, he obtained a licentiate in Canon Law at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome and licentiates in Philosophy and in Theology at Universidad Católica Santa Rosa in Caracas. He received priestly ordination on 5 July 1995, becoming incardinated for the Archdiocese of Barquisimeto. He held the following positions: parochial vicar of San Pedro in Barinitas (1995-1998); spiritual assistant of the private association of faithful Alegría y Esperanza and chaplain of the José Antonio Páez military high school in Barinitas; parish priest of Sagrada Familia de Nazareth in El Tostao (1998-1999); parish priest of Divina Misericordia in Tarabana-Cabudare, bursar of the Divina Pastora and Juan Pablo II archdiocesan seminaries of Barquisimeto, and lecturer at Divina Pastora Seminary (1999-2002); archdiocesan assistant for youth ministry (2001-2002); pastoral vicar of Nuestra Señora de Lourdes and episcopal vicar for the clergy (2005-2007); judicial vicar and parish priest of Sagrada Familia de Nazareth in El Tostao (2005 to 2022); from 2008 to the time of the source biography, vicar general and, from 2022, parish priest of San Pedro in Barquisimeto.