Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop of San Bartolomé de Chillán (Chile) to Bishop Andrés Gabriel Ferrada, until now secretary of the Dicastery for the Clergy, who retains the personal title of archbishop.
Mons. Ferrada was born on June 10, 1969 in Santiago, Chile and studied Law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Already as a seminarian, he obtained a degree in Theology. At the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Biblical Sciences and a doctorate in Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University.
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Ordained in July 1999, he has served as parochial vicar and collaborator of different parishes in Santiago de Chile and Munich. In addition, he has carried out important academic work in different institutions such as the School of the Permanent Diaconate and the Pontifical Major Seminary of Santiago de Chile and the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.
In addition, he has served as chaplain of the Monastery of Cristo Rey and María Medianera of the Discalced Carmelites in Macul and as director of the Catholic Magazine of the Archbishopric of Santiago.
In 2018 he began to collaborate as an officer of the Congregation for the Clergy, today a dicastery, until on October 1, 2021 he was appointed secretary and titular archbishop of Tiburnia, receiving episcopal ordination on the following October 17.
In addition, he is a member of the Dicastery for Evangelization (Section for the First Evangelization and New Particular Churches) and the Dicastery for Bishops.
Message from Bishop Ferrada to the faithful
Upon hearing the news of his appointment, Bishop Andrés Ferrada addressed a message to the faithful and communities of the Diocese of San Bartolomé de Chillán, in which he expressed his gratitude to Pope Leo XIV for this new mission, assuring his “affection, fidelity and obedience.”
“The Lord has sent me to share the path of faith, hope and charity that the Holy Spirit has inspired since the Gospel arrived in the lands of Ñuble more than 450 years ago and that, for a century, has been bringing fruit as a diocesan community,” he expressed in the first paragraphs of his letter.
Next, the bishop-elect made himself available “to children, adults and the elderly; to families and communities; to those who live and work in the fields, in the mountains and on the coast, or in cities and towns; to those who suffer and those in need; to those who live deprived of liberty or are mired in the slavery of addictions; to migrants and the homeless.”
“I want to join in the prayer and evangelizing service of catechists and other pastoral agents, walking alongside all of them, especially consecrated people, permanent deacons, seminarians and priests,” he assured.
Citing his episcopal motto “All that is mine is yours,” Bishop Ferrada expressed his desire to “offer to everyone, with humility, the gifts and life experience that the Lord has given me by creating me and by uniting me through Baptism to his Holy People, whom I have served for 26 years as a priest in my diocese of origin, Santiago, and, since 2018, in the Holy See, where I was called to the Episcopate by the dear Pope. “Francisco four years ago, collaborating as Secretary of the Dicastery for the Clergy.”
Finally, he entrusted his ministry to the prayers of the community “to be able to respond with generosity and fidelity to the new mission that the Lord entrusts to me.”
“I bow before you and ask for your blessing, as well as your understanding and welcome in this new beginning of my Christian and priestly life,” he concluded, invoking the intercession of Saint Bartholomew and the Virgin of Carmen.
Nicholas de Cardenas
Born in 1980, I am a Spanish husband and father and journalist with more than 20 years of experience in print and digital media, specializing in sociopolitical and religious information. I have worked for more than 10 years in defense of human rights and have accreditations in Journalism and Comprehensive Communication. Since July 2022, I have been a correspondent for ACI Prensa and EWTN Noticias in Spain, covering international events of the Catholic Church.