Pope Francis appoints a new archbishop in Guatemala

Pope Francis today appointed Bishop Víctor Hugo Palma Paúl, 66, as the new Archbishop of Los Altos, Quetzaltenango-Totonicapán, in Guatemala. Until this appointment, Bishop Palma Paúl served as Bishop of the Diocese of Escuintla, where he was for 23 years.

The official announcement was made by the Press Office of the Holy See and communicated in Guatemala by the Apostolic Nunciature, through the Communication Secretariat of the Episcopal Conference.

Guatemala, the most populous country in Central America with 18.6 million inhabitants, according to a 2022 census, has only two archdioceses: one in the capital and another in the region known as Los Altos.

The latter, located in the southwestern region of the country, has jurisdiction over the departments of Quetzaltenango, where the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit is located, and Totonicapán, home of the Co-Cathedral of San Miguel Arcángel.

In parallel, Pope Francis also accepted the resignation from the pastoral government of the Archdiocese of Los Altos, Quetzaltenango-Totonicapán, presented by Mons. Mario Alberto Molina Palma, 76 years old, of Panamanian origin and belonging to the Order of the Augustinian Recollects, who assumed the archbishopric in 2011.

Who is Bishop Víctor Hugo Palma Paúl?

According to the bulletin of the Holy See, Bishop Víctor Hugo Palma Paúl was born on April 10, 1958 in Guatemala City. He completed his philosophical and theological studies at the National Major Seminary of Guatemala and obtained a bachelor’s degree and doctorate in Biblical Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy.

He was ordained a priest on December 23, 1983 and played various roles in the field of formation, as a teacher of Sacred Scripture and director of Studies at the National Major Seminary.

In 2001, Saint John Paul II named him Coadjutor Bishop of Escuintla, and in 2004 he became titular Bishop of that diocese.