Overview
- The Holy See announced on January 19 that Pope León XIV accepted Carlos Garfias Merlos’s age-based resignation, and as coadjutor with right of succession under Canon 403 §3, José Armando Álvarez Cano immediately became archbishop.
- The Mexican Bishops’ Conference and the Apostolic Nunciature confirmed the acceptance and succession shortly after the Vatican bulletin.
- Álvarez Cano said there will be no immediate personnel changes and temporarily ratified vicars and other diocesan officials to maintain administrative continuity.
- He set priorities that include advancing peace, addressing social challenges, supporting aging and ill clergy, and strengthening priestly vocations and formation, beginning with a period of listening with clergy and laity.
- Garfias Merlos, now archbishop emeritus, will preside a thanksgiving celebration on January 22 at the Morelia Cathedral, and local authorities, including the city’s mayor, publicly welcomed the new archbishop.