(ANS - Vatican City)- Today, 3 December, the Holy Father Pope Francis erected the new diocese of Guasdualito, Venezuela, with territory taken from the Dioceses of San Fernando de Apure and Barinas, making it a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mérida. He appointed as first bishop of the new diocese Fr Pablo Modesto González Pérez, SDB, until now Director of the Don Bosco Agricultural Centre in El Molinete in the Archdiocese of Maracaibo.

Fr González Pérez, was born on 30 June 1959 in San Antonio de los Altos and entered the Salesian novitiate in the same city in 1976. He made his perpetual profession on 3 September 1983 and was ordained priest on 26 July 1986.

He holds a Degree in Education from the Simón Rodríguez University of Caracas and in Pastoral Theology from the Pontifical University of Salamanca.

He was Economer and Vice-Rector in the parish of St Francis de Sales in Caracas (1986-1995) and Rector and Parish Priest in the parish of St John Jbosco in Valencia-Venezuela (1995-2002). He held the same positions again in the parish of St Francis de Sales in Caracas (2002-2005), and then from 2005 to 2008 in the parish of St John Bosco in Los Teques (2005-2008).

Since 2010 he has been Director of the Don Bosco Agricultural Centre in El Molinete.  He was Councillor and Delegate for Parishes in the Province of Venezuela from 2000 to 2008.

The new diocese of Guasdualito is located to the southwest of Venezuela. It has an area of ​​35,184 square kilometres and a population of 200,000 inhabitants. There are 14 parishes and 13 priests (9 diocesan and 4 religious), plus 4 seminarians and 9 Sisters.

Published 03/12/2015