Bishop of Maturín
Bishop Enrique Pérez Lavado, Bishop of Maturín, was born on April 19, 1951, in Maracaibo, in the Archdiocese of Maracaibo. He studied philosophy at the seminary of Valmaría in Colombia and theology at the Santa Rosa de Lima Seminary of Caracas, and obtained a licentiate in dogmatic theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He was ordained a priest for Maracaibo on July 25, 1986. He subsequently served as director of the archdiocesan vocations centre; professor at the major seminary; parish priest of the cathedral; rector of the major seminary; parish priest of Santa Lucía; director of the secretariat for the family; professor and spiritual director at the major seminary; president of the doctrinal commission of the archdiocese; head of the candidates for the permanent diaconate; and parish priest of San Antonio María Claret. He was also a member of the presbyteral council and of the college of consultors of the Archdiocese of Maracaibo for several years. On August 9, 2003, he was appointed Bishop of Maturín. He received episcopal ordination on October 31, 2003, with Medardo Luis Luzardo Romero as principal consecrator and César Ramón Ortega Herrera and Ubaldo Ramón Santana Sequera as co-consecrators.