Bishop of Zamora
Fernando Valera Sánchez was born on March 7, 1960, in Bullas (Murcia). In 1977, he entered the San Fulgencio Seminary of the Diocese of Cartagena—then located in Granada—and pursued his ecclesiastical studies at the Faculty of Theology in Granada. He was ordained a priest on September 18, 1983. In 1987, he obtained a Licentiate in Philosophy from the University of Murcia, while also undertaking the doctoral program "Reason, Discourse, and History in Contemporary Philosophy." He earned a Licentiate in Spiritual Theology from the Pontifical University of Comillas in 1995 and a Doctorate in Theology from the same university in 2001. From 1998 to 2000, he pursued further studies in Rome. Throughout his 37 years of priestly ministry, he has held various pastoral roles and carried out diverse pastoral activities: parochial vicar at the parish of Nuestra Señora del Rosario in La Unión and member of the pastoral team in charge of the parish of San Nicolás de Bari in Estrecho de San Ginés, Cartagena (1983–1984); parochial vicar at the parish of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción in Molina de Segura (1984–1990); parish priest of San Antonio de Padua in Mazarrón (1990–1991); and *fidei donum* missionary priest in the highlands of Bolivia (1991–1992). Fernando Valera also served as parish priest of Nuestra Señora de Loreto in Algezares (Murcia) (1994–1997); *in solidum* parish priest of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción in Moratalla, as well as of San Bartolomé in El Sabinar, Virgen de la Rogativa, and San Juan y Béjar (1997–1998); parish priest of Santiago Apóstol in Lorquí (2000–2004); parish priest of Nuestra Señora del Rosario in Puente Tocinos (Murcia) and archpriest of Murcia-Northeast (2004–2005); and parish priest of La Purísima in Javalí Nuevo (Murcia) and diocesan delegate for the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Toledo (2005–2011). ...and Episcopal Vicar for Suburban Zone I (2010–2019). He also taught Scientific Methodology at the San Fulgencio Center for Theological-Pastoral Studies in Murcia (1988–1991). At the time of his episcopal appointment, Fernando Valera was the spiritual director of the San Fulgencio Major Seminary and the San José Minor Seminary of the Diocese of Cartagena (since 2011), as well as of the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Family—a congregation of diocesan right—since 2010. Furthermore, he had been a professor at the San Fulgencio Theological Institute since 2003, and at the Murcia Theological Institute (OFM) and the San Dámaso Higher Institute of Religious Sciences (Murcia distance-learning section) since 2007. Additionally, he was a member of the College of Consultors of the Diocese of Cartagena from 2012 and a canon of the Cathedral of Murcia from 2019. Msgr. Fernando Valera Sánchez has served as Bishop of Zamora since October 30, 2020, and took possession of the diocese on December 12.