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VATICAN CITY // In his first episcopal appointment, Pope Leo XIV has made the superior of the América del Sur district of the Marist Fathers an auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Callao, Peru — a place quite familiar to the new pontiff.
The Holy See Press Office announced in a May 15 press release that Pope Leo has appointed Father Miguel Ángel Contreras Llajaruna, S.M., as an auxiliary bishop in Callao. Today marks exactly one week since Pope Leo — who has many years of experience ministering in Peru — was elected as Supreme Pontiff.
From 2020 to 2021, then-Bishop Robert Prevost (now Pope Leo) served as the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Callao. At the same time, he was ministering as the bishop of Chiclayo, a position he held from 2014 to 2023. The new pope holds dual citizenship in Peru and the US.
Fr. Contreras belongs to the religious order the Society of Mary and has served as episcopal vicar for Consecrated Life of the Diocese of Callao, Peru, since 2021. He has served as the superior of the América del Sur district of the Marist Fathers since 2022.
Service to the Church through education is part of the charism of the Society of Mary, according to a May 15 article by ADN Celam, a department of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council. The article states that Fr. Contreras had shared in a 2020 interview that being a Marist means “being and continuing Mary’s presence in the world and in the Church, serving through ministries, education, and parishes.”
According to the release from the Holy See, Fr. Contreras served as promoter of the San José parish school in Callao from 2012 to 2021, and since 2022 has served as diocesean director general of the network of parish schools.
Pope Leo has assigned Fr. Contreras to the titular diocese of Babra, according to the press office.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles explains that titular dioceses “are ancient but now-inactive churches from around the world, serving as a connection between the bishop and the universal Church.” The article notes that every bishop must be the bishop over a particular place, so an auxiliary bishop, who is appointed to assist a local bishop, receives a titular diocese.