The Right Reverend Rafael Morales | |
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Bishop of Puerto Rico | |
Native name | Rafael Morales Maldonado |
Church | Episcopal Church |
Province | Province 2 of the Episcopal Church |
Diocese | Puerto Rico |
See | Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (San Juan, Puerto Rico) |
In office | 2017–present |
Predecessor | David Álvarez |
Other post(s) | Provisional Bishop of Cuba and Bishop Advisor of the Virgin Islands |
Previous post(s) | School Principal, Teacher, Vicar. |
Orders | |
Consecration | July 22, 2017 by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, Bishop Wilfrido Ramos Orench(ret.), Bishop David Alvarez(ret.), Bishop Julio Holguin, Bishop Peter Eaton |
Personal details | |
Nationality | Puerto Rican |
Denomination | Anglican. Formerly Roman Catholic |
Residence | [Toa Alta] |
Rafael Luis Morales Maldonado is the seventh Bishop of Puerto Rico in The Episcopal Church.
He was born in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico into the Roman Catholic Church, then Catholic Deacon Morales was received by Bishop David Andrés Alvarez-Velázquez into the Anglican faith, which would allow him, a married man, to be ordained into the priesthood.
Prior to being consecrated as a bishop, Morales' roles included serving as a parish priest in Toa Baja, a suburb of Puerto Rico's capital city of San Juan, and as head of the Episcopal Cathedral School.
He was chosen on December 10, 2016 among four candidates, including a female priest, by the Diocesan Assembly to succeed David Alvarez as the Diocesan Bishop and take over the reins of the church from Bishop Wilfrido Ramos-Orench, who served as provisional diocesan bishop for approximately 3 years after Alvarez' retirement upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 72.
Bishop Morales currently also serves as the provisional bishop for the Episcopal Diocese of Cuba and Bishop advisor to the Episcopal Diocese of the Virgin Islands.
David Andrés Álvarez-Velázquez served as bishop of the Diocese of Puerto Rico of the Episcopal Church of the United States (TEC), or "Iglesia Episcopal Puertorriqueña", succeeding the late Francisco Reus-Froylan, the first Puerto Rican to serve as diocesan bishop. He also served as acting bishop in Cuba and was also a member of the Executive Committee of the Episcopal Church of the United States.
The Episcopal Church of Cuba is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States. The diocese consists of the entire country of Cuba. From 1966 to 2020, it was an extra-provincial diocese under the archbishop of Canterbury. As of 2021, it had nearly 1,600 members and an average worship attendance of more than 600 in forty-four parishes, including the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Havana.
Francisco Reus-Froylan was the fifth Bishop of Puerto Rico from 1965 to 1989.
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The Episcopal Church Diocese of Puerto Rico is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in Puerto Rico.
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Wilfrido Ramos-Orench is an Episcopal bishop. From 2014-2017 he served as the Provisional Bishop of the Diocese of Puerto Rico. He was a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Connecticut from 2000 to 2006, and the provisional bishop of the Diocese of Central Ecuador from 2006 to 2009.
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Alberto Arturo Figueroa Morales is a Puerto Rican prelate of the Catholic Church. He has been bishop of the Diocese of Arecibo in Puerto Rico since 2022. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Juan in Puerto Rico from 2019 to 2022.