Pope Benedict XVI has named Bishop Alvaro Corrada del Rio, SJ of Tyler, Texas, as bishop of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.  Bishop Corrada, 69, succeeds Bishop Ulises Aurelio Casiano Vargas.

The appointment was publicized in Washington, July 6, by Msgr. Jean-François Lantheaume, chargé d’affaires at the Apostolic Nunciature to the United States.

Bishop Corrada was appointed auxiliary bishop of Washington in 1985, and apostolic administrator of Caguas, Puerto Rico in 1997. When he was named an auxiliary bishop for the Washington Archdiocese, he became the first Puerto Rican native to be named a bishop for the U.S. mainland.

He was named bishop of Tyler in 2000, and has served as the diocese’s shepherd for 10 years. As bishop of Tyler, he has promoted understanding of Catholic spirituality, liturgical reform, evangelization and discipleship, and vocations. The diocese currently has 12 men in various stages of formation for the priesthood.

The diocese of Tyler was created in 1986 and is composed of 33 counties. In 2005, the diocese was made part of the ecclesiastic province of Galveston-Houston.

"The Diocese of Tyler has been very well served by Bishop Alvaro Corrada del Rio, who worked tirelessly to improve the diocese's pastoral and fiscal structures, especially on behalf of the poor and distressed through Catholic Charities," said Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. "He has dedicated his 37 years of priesthood to serving the people of God across the nation, from New York to Washington, D.C. to Texas – and now back to his native Puerto Rico. In his work as a pastor, school teacher, retreat master and counselor, Bishop Corrada has always presented himself as a servant to all those in need. It has been a blessing for me to work with him on issues of concern for the Texas Catholic Conference. Bishop Corrada, your episcopal service to the people of the Lone Star State since 2000 has offered hope and Christ's power to others. May your days as the Bishop of Mayaguez be fruitful and blessed."

Bishop Corrada was born May 13, 1942, in Santurce, Puerto Rico and was seventh of 14 siblings. He studied at Jesuit seminaries in Poughkeepsie, New York; Shrub Oak, New York; and New York City. He earned a bachelor of arts degree from Fordham University and was ordained a priest in 1974. After ordination he completed course work for a doctoral degree in theological science at the Institut Catholic in Paris, and taught at Colegio San Ignacio in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, and Xavier High School in New York City.

From 1975-1978, he served as a retreat master and director of the marriage renewal movement at Casa Manresa Retreat House in Aibonito, Puerto Rico. From 1979-1982, he was assistant pastor at Nativity Parish in New York City, and from 1982-1985, pastoral coordinator of the Northeast Catholic Hispanic Center, based in New York. He also worked as a counselor to Hispanic inmates at Ricker's Island Prison Center in New York and as a lecturer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Mayaguez Diocese is located in the southwest portion of Puerto Rico. It has a population of 502,515 people, with 402,010, or 80 percent of them, Catholic.