The priest Pedro Benítez Mestre was appointed provisional rector of the Pontifical University of Mexico (UPM) for a period of two years, the Pontifical University of Mexico (UPM) reported.
The announcement was broadcast through A statement on July 15 signed by Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes, Gran Chancellor; Mons. Ramón Castro Castro, vice great chancellor; and Mons. Joseph Spiteri, Apostolic Nuncio in Mexico. The text added that the appointment was confirmed by the Dicastery of the Holy See for Culture and Education.
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Likewise, he thanked Fr. Alberto Anguiano García for his service at the head of the UPM, while the entire educational community was invited “to receive in a spirit of sincere co -responsibility to the new rector for the good of the good of the Alma Mater and of the entire Church that pilgrims in Mexico. ”
At the same time, Cardinal Aguiar in his role as Chancellor appointed To Fr. Julán López Amozurrutioa as an interim Vice Chancellor “until the new rector takes possession of his position.”
The above “in order to carry out our beloved institution in this period of transition and prepare everything necessary for the new rector to begin his service at the beginning of the new academic cycle.”
Denunciation of irregularities
The change in the rectory has generated controversy. Fr. Anguiano García, from the clergy of the Archdiocese of Monterrey, denounced in a letter on July 15, to which ACI Press had access, which was informed of the appointment of an interim rector only one day before becoming official.
Although he had been ratified for a second period as a rector, in his letter he affirmed that the decree was issued “without any justification and apart from any institutional procedure.”
He also denounced to have been “victim of workplace harassment and institutional violence” since September 2024, which is why he saw “in the painful obligation to resign the position of rector for which I was legitimately appointed by the previous Episcopal Commission for the UPM.”
During the General Assembly of the Mexican Episcopate Conference (CEM) held in November 2024, the charges related to the conduction of the UPM were renewed.
Fr. Anguiano also announced his resignation to the teaching service in the institution, noting that he cannot “continue tolerating that the ecclesiastical authorities continue to allow and cover up the abuses against my dignity and my rights.”
He concluded his letter expressing that, in “Clean consciousness and full gratitude to the Father of Christ, I delivered this entrustment that I accepted, not by ambition of a position, but for my determined Christian commitment in favor of good and truth; commitment to which I will never have to give up.”
Holy See in charge of appointments
So far, neither the primed archdiocese of Mexico, nor the University itself, nor the Mexican Episcopate Conference (CEM) have made public statements. However, ACI Prensa had access to an internal CEM statement that requires that it is the Holy See to whom the Supreme Directorate of this corresponds and giving the appointment or at least the confirmation of the academic authorities. ”
“The Holy See had confirmed the appointment of the Pbro. Dr. Alberto Anguiano García as Rector for Triennium 2021-2024, a position he held until now, in which the same authority has confirmed the appointment of the Rev Pbro. Dr. Pedro Benitez Mestre as rector tod interim from the Pontifical University of Mexico for a period of two years, ”says the text.
The message concludes by inviting all members of the educational community to “fulfill their commissions with sincere co -responsibility, imitating the good shepherd, who came to serve with humility for everyone to have life.”
Who is P. Pedro Antonio Benítez Mestre, new rector of the UPM?
He P. Pedro Antonio Benítez Mestre He was born in Mexico City in 1972. He was ordained a priest in 1998, after studying baccalaureate in theology at the University of Navarra. It is incardinated in the Archdiocese of Tlalnepantla, State of Mexico.
He has a graduate and doctor of dogmatic theology from the Pontifical University of the Santa Cruz in Rome. Subsequently, he performed the master’s degree and the PhD in Philosophy at the Ibero -American University of Mexico City, both with honorary mention.
He has performed pastoral and training tasks in Mexico and was a professor of theology at the UPM, the Pan -American University and the Pastoral Theological Biblical Center for Latin America and the Caribbean (Cebitepal).
Since 2019, he was an attached professor in the Department of Systematic Theology of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarra (Spain), where he taught in the area of Ecclesiology and collaborated with the Core Curriculum Institute.
Diego López Colín
I am a graduate of journalism at the Carlos Septién García school with experience of religious institutional communication. Since 2016 I write for digital media and, since 2018, I report the most important news about the Catholic event in Mexico for the Ewtn news channel. ACI Press correspondent in Mexico since 2023.