Pope Leo XIV appointed the priest Alfonso García López, exorcist priest of the Diocese of Istmina-Tadó and born in Chocó, new Apostolic Vicar of Guapi in Cauca. He is the second Afro -descendant bishop in the country.
According to the Episcopal Conference of Colombia (CEC)the elected bishop served as Vicar General and exorcist of the Diocese of Istmina-Tadó since 2018.
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It happens in the position of Apostolic Vicar of Guapi to Mons. Carlos Alberto Correa Martínez, who in March 2024 was appointed Bishop of Apartadó.
The CEC explains that the Apostolic Vicariate of Guapi, in the department of Cauca – a site in the last days of terrorist attacks perpetrated by the dissidents of the FARC – has a large number of Afro -descendant and indigenous communities, as well as “multiple social challenges linked to armed conflict and poverty.”
According to the episcopate, the appointment of García López, of “extensive experience in areas of difficult access and training in management, could represent an important sign of hope” for this area of Colombia.
Who is the new Bishop of Guapi’s apostolic vicariatic in Colombia?
Alfonso García López is the new Bishop of Guapi’s apostolic vicariatic in Colombia. He was born in Juradó, in the department of Chocó, on February 23, 1971. He is 54 years old.
He studied at the Minor Seminar of Istmina and at the San Pío X Major Seminary of the same diocese. He was ordained a priest on February 21, 1998.
It has a degree in Religious Philosophy and Education from the Catholic University of East (2000), a specialization in pedagogy and didactics (2002), a theological specialization with emphasis on priestly training at the theological-pastoral institute for Latin America (2005).
It also has a master’s degree in International Business and Business Administration from the University of Phoenix (USA, 2011) and a specialization in Bible Studies from the Uniclaretian University (2012).
He has been a pastor in several communities of the Diocese of Istmina-Tadó as Santa Rita de Casia (Río Iró), San Roque (Juradó) and Immaculate Heart of Mary (Copica Bay). He has also been Rector and Vice Chancellor of the Major San Pío X (2002-2003; 2006-2008), and responsible for University Pastoral (2009-2010).
He was pastor of the San Pablo Apóstol cathedral (2011-2018) and, recently, of the Spirit Holy Parish (2024). Since 2018 he was, in addition to Exorcist and Vicar General, moderator of the curia and priestly pastoral delegate of the Diocese of Istmina-Tadó.
Walter Sánchez Silva
I am husband since 2008. With my wife we have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before birth. Since I joined ACI Press in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Colonia, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the family’s synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Sinodality, in 2023. I follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers the persecution of the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as the ecclesial news in the region.