Pope Leo XIV today made his first episcopal appointment for Mexico, designating Mons. José Luis Cerra Luna as Bishop of Nogales, in the Mexican state of Sonora, on the northern border of the country.
The Apostolic Nunciature communicates, through the General Secretariat of the Conference of the Mexican Episcopate, that its holiness Leo XIV has deigned to appoint bishop of the Diocese of Nogales, to the Pbro. José Luis Cerra Luna, until now Vicar General of the Diocese of … pic.twitter.com/tynH91YoAI
— CEM (@IglesiaMexico) June 20, 2025
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Mons. José Luis Cerra Luna is the second bishop of Nogales. He previously ruled that diocese, since its creation in 2015, Mons. José Leopoldo González González. This was named in 2024 Bishop of San Juan de los Lagos and the episcopal headquarters was vacant.
In a statement on the occasion of the appointment, the Conference of the Mexican Episcopate (CEM) said that the bishops of the country “join in joy and prayer with the Church that pilgrims in the diocese of Nogales and we wish Mons. José Luis a fruitful performance in the new episcopal encomienda that the Lord has entrusted to him.”
Who is the new Bishop of Nogales?
Born on July 24, 1963 in the city of Torreón, in the northern state of Coahuila, Mons. José Luis Cerra Luna from a very young age he lived with his family in the city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, according to the biography Shared For the CEM.
He began his priestly formation in 1981 at the Diocesan Seminary of Matamoros, and formed in Philosophy in the Monterrey Seminary. He received priestly ordination in the Matamoros Cathedral in 1990.
He graduated in Philosophy at the Pontifical University of Mexico and in spiritual theology at the Pontifical Institute of Spirituality, Teresianum, of Rome (Italy).
Among other important positions he has occupied in the Diocese of Matamoros-Reynosa, he is currently his vicar general, and moderator of the Operational Council for the Protection of Vulnerable Children and Adults of the Diocese.
David Ramos
Graduate in Communication Sciences by the Private University of the North in Trujillo, Peru. With more than 12 years of experience in Catholic journalism working in ACI Press, I am based in Mexico since 2018. I have covered the trips of Pope Francis to Ecuador, Paraguay, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Panama.