Pope Leo XIV today made the first episcopal appointment of his pontificate for Venezuela, designating the presbyter Alexander Rivera Vielma as the new bishop of San Carlos, diocese that was in vacant headquarters since June 2024.
Mons. Rivera is currently Vicar General and pastor of San Miguel Arcángel de El Llano, located in the Andean state of Mérida. The new bishop, born on March 6, 1974, is from this region.
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It is also to date Judge of the Archdiocesan ecclesiastical court, member of the Presbyteral Council, the College of Consultants, the Council of Economic Affairs and the Metropolitan Chapter of Mérida.
It has served in various parishes of the archdiocese. He was a rector and professor at the Archdiocesan Major Seminar in Mérida, where he also completed his philosophical studies (1991-1994) and theological (1994-1998).
On September 19, 1998 he was ordered priest, incardinating the archdiocese of Mérida. After a period of pastoral ministry he was sent to Rome, where in 2004 he obtained the license in Canon Law at the Pontifical Latarenense University.
In 2010 he graduated in managerial sciences of the International University of the Caribbean, in Curacao.
Andrés Henríquez
I was born in Caracas in 1996. I am a writer for ACI Press and correspondent of EWTN since 2023. Since then, I cover events of the Catholic Church in Venezuela, Latin America and the world. I have more than 6 years of experience in bilingual media. In addition, in Venezuela I have worked from various fields for freedom and respect for fundamental rights in the country. I am a member of the Regnum Christi Federation since 2014.