Guadalajara Archdiocese appoints two new auxiliary bishops, Digi Mart USA News (Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico): The Archdiocese of Guadalajara, the ecclesiastical circumscription with the most Catholics, priests and parishes in Mexico, led by Cardinal José Francisco Robles Ortega, added two new auxiliary bishops on Wednesday, November 4, 2026. The priests named are Ramón Duarte Miranda and Héctor Michel Figueroa.
The appointment was made by Pope Leo XIV and announced by the Apostolic Nunciature in Mexico through the General Secretariat of the Mexican Episcopal Conference (CEM). According to data from late 2022, the archdiocese serves nearly six million Catholics across 514 parishes, with more than 1,600 priests.
The two new bishops-elect will join the two auxiliary bishops already working with Cardinal Robles Ortega: Manuel González Villaseñor and Juan Manuel Muñoz Curiel.
Ramón Duarte Miranda, 57, was born on May 6, 1969, in Las Pilas, municipality of Encarnación de Díaz, Jalisco. He was ordained a priest on May 30, 1996, for the Archdiocese of Guadalajara.
He studied philosophy and theology at the Seminary of Guadalajara and holds a degree in psychology from the Universidad del Valle de Atemajac (UNIVA). He has served as pastor in several communities, including the Sacred Heart parish in Arenales Tapatíos, San Ildefonso and Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in Las Juntas.
Most recently he was pastor of San Joaquín and episcopal vicar of the San Andrés Vicariate. Pope Leo XIV assigned him the titular see of Sereddeli.
Héctor Michel Figueroa, 56, was born on February 19, 1970, in Guadalajara, Jalisco. He was ordained a priest on May 18, 1997.
He completed humanities, philosophy and theology studies at the Seminary of Guadalajara. He has served as cooperating vicar in Ocotlán and Tonalá and as pastor of the Divine Providence parish in Tonalá.
Since 2011 he led the San Miguel Arcángel parish in Cocula, Jalisco, and since 2022 he has served as episcopal vicar. He was assigned the titular see of Taparura.
Both priests are natives of the region and have carried out their ministry within the archdiocese, a background that Cardinal Robles Ortega highlighted during the official presentation. They are expected to receive episcopal ordination in the second half of January, within the canonical three-month period.
The appointment comes amid ongoing changes in Mexico’s episcopal landscape. In recent years the Archdiocese of Guadalajara has served as a source of bishops for other dioceses.
On September 29, 2026, Pope Leo XIV named then-auxiliary bishops Héctor López Alvarado and Ramón Salazar Estrada as the new heads of the dioceses of Puerto Escondido (Oaxaca) and Mazatlán (Sinaloa), respectively. Both prelates left their roles as auxiliaries to Cardinal Robles Ortega to take pastoral leadership of their own particular churches.
Cardinal Robles Ortega has noted earlier cases of this kind, including Eduardo Muñoz Ochoa, now bishop of Autlán, and Engelberto Polino, bishop of Tepic, both of whom were auxiliaries in Guadalajara before their promotions. The source describes this practice as part of the archdiocese’s role in formation and pastoral experience, supplying shepherds to other regions of Mexico.
With the arrival of Duarte Miranda and Michel Figueroa, the archdiocese fills vacancies left by its predecessors and renews its team of collaborators to continue its evangelizing mission in one of the most populous and dynamic areas of the country.
