César Alfonso Ortega Díaz

César Alfonso Ortega Díaz was born on 12 May 1969 at Chihuahua; the Holy See bulletin gives no further precision, and the birthplace is not expanded to city or state. He was ordained a priest on 15 August 1996 for the Diocese of Parral; the place of ordination and the ordaining bishop are not stated. He took the licentiate in Canon Law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. As a priest of Parral he served as parochial vicar; as Director of Diocesan Vocational Pastoral; as Rector of the Diocesan Seminary; as Judicial Vicar; and, at appointment, additionally as Vicar General, Rector of the Cathedral, Judge of the Diocesan Tribunal, and member of the College of Consultors. He had no prior see: the bulletin names him as, until then, Vicar General of Parral, and the Parral diocesan history calls him a priest of that diocese. He held no auxiliary tenure anywhere, so there is nothing to close at appointment, and no CEM or conference role has been found.

Pope Francis appointed him Bishop of Linares on 27 November 2021. He was consecrated bishop on Tuesday 22 February 2022, the feast of the Chair of St Peter, a coincidence he himself flagged, by Archbishop Rogelio Cabrera López of Monterrey, and began his episcopal ministry the same day as sixth bishop of Linares. The bishops of the Province of Monterrey attended, with CEM secretary general Ramón Castro Castro and nunciature representative Roberto Luchini. The Parral diocesan history, a pre-event notice, places the ordination in front of the Linares cathedral; the post-event Vida Nueva report confirms the date without naming the venue, so the venue rests on the Parral notice alone. At the press conference before the ceremony he set out his pastoral project, in reported speech: work for family and life; seek young people and teach them the faith; work for vocations; work hard for peace in communities; and closeness to the presbyterate, religious, and laity.