Alberto Arturo Figueroa Morales
Alberto Arturo Figueroa Morales was born August 9, 1961, in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. He entered the Capuchin Friars in 1981, made temporary profession in 1985 and solemn vows in 1995, and lived as a professed Capuchin from 1991 to 2010 before transferring to the secular clergy of the Archdiocese of San Juan. He earned a Bachelor of Philosophy (1984) from the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico, a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (1995) from the Pontifical University of Saint Anthony in Rome, and a Master of Canon Law (2018) from the Pontifical University of Salamanca. In 2017 he professed as a Carmelite tertiary, taking the name Alberto Maria de San Jose.
He was ordained a priest on June 2, 1990, by Bishop Ulises Aurelio Casiano Vargas, incardinated at that time for the Diocese of Arecibo. He served as parish priest at Santa Teresita in Ponce and in various roles within the Capuchin order and the Archdiocese of San Juan. Pope Francis appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of San Juan on November 19, 2019, and he was consecrated a bishop on December 27, 2019, by Archbishop Roberto González Nieves.
On September 14, 2022, Pope Francis appointed Figueroa Morales the fifth Bishop of Arecibo, and he was installed at the Cathedral of San Felipe Apostol on October 17, 2022. His appointment followed one of the most contested episcopal removals of the Francis pontificate: his predecessor, Daniel Fernández Torres, had been removed by the Pope on March 9, 2022, after refusing to resign. As of mid-2026 Figueroa Morales, aged 64, continues to govern the diocese. His episcopal motto, from St. John of the Cross, is 'A donde no hay amor, pon amor y sacaras amor' (Where there is no love, put love and you will draw out love).
Bishop Figueroa Morales has left essentially no personal record on the Traditional Latin Mass. There is no known Traditionis Custodes decree, no restriction, no permission, and no public homily or statement by him for or against the traditional liturgy. What can be verified is that the Diocese of Arecibo continues to have a public Traditional Latin Mass under his governance: at Parroquia San Martin de Porres in Arecibo, offered every Sunday at 1:00 PM, organized by Una Voce Puerto Rico together with the Militia Templi. The Latin Mass Directory listing for this Mass was current as of early 2026, indicating the Mass has survived the change of bishops rather than being suppressed.
The delicate point for Traditional Catholics is not anything Figueroa Morales has done, but whom he replaced. His predecessor, Daniel Fernández Torres, was the single Puerto Rican bishop who refused to sign the national statement restricting the old Mass after Traditionis Custodes, and that refusal was among the reasons cited for his forced removal in March 2022. Figueroa Morales was Rome's chosen replacement. To supporters of Fernández, that origin story colors the appointment; but it is guilt by succession, not by any act of Figueroa Morales himself. Fairness requires distinguishing the two.
On the evidence available, the honest verdict is a thin, untested record with no documented Traditionis Custodes action. Figueroa Morales has neither defended the traditional Mass publicly nor moved to suppress the existing one in his diocese. He presents as a pastoral, collaboration-minded bishop of Franciscan and Carmelite formation whose priorities are evangelization and shared ministry, not liturgical politics. Whether he proves a quiet protector or an eventual restrictor of the Arecibo Latin Mass cannot be determined from the public record as of mid-2026 -- he should be judged on what he actually does, and so far he has done nothing recorded either way.