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Constancio Miranda Weckmann
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Constancio Miranda Weckmann

Archbishop of Chihuahua
Archbishop
1952
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Ordained
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Consecrated Bishop
Chihuahua
Diocese
Mexico
Country
The Life

Constancio Miranda Weckmann was born on 15 September 1952 in Las Cruces, Chihuahua, and was ordained a priest on 30 September 1977 in Madera, Chihuahua, by Justo Goizueta Gridilla, O.A.R., then bishop-prelate of Madera, for the then Prelature of Madera. He studied at the seminary of the Missionaries of the Nativity of Mary in León, Guanajuato, at the seminary of Ciudad Juárez, and at the regional seminary of the north in Chihuahua; after ordination he was sent to Rome, where he studied at the Pontifical Mexican College and took a licentiate in moral theology at the Pontifical Alfonsian Academy. His episcopal motto is Cristo vence, 'Christ conquers'.

In the Prelature of Madera he served as parish priest of Santa Clara, of Óscar Soto Maynez, and of Madera, where he was also parochial vicar; as vicar general of the prelature from 1990 to 1994; as diocesan administrator from 1994 to 15 December 1995, after bishop-prelate Renato Ascencio León was named Bishop of Ciudad Juárez; and, when the prelature was raised to the Diocese of Cuauhtémoc-Madera, again as vicar general under its new bishop, Juan Guillermo López Soto, until 26 June 1998. In the Episcopal Conference of Mexico he was president of the Department of Social Provision for the Clergy and representative of the Metropolitan Surrounding Pastoral Region from 2004 to 2006, and in its LXXXII Plenary Assembly head of the Priestly Insurance Protection dimension of the Vocations and Ministries commission for the triennium 2007-2009.

Pope John Paul II appointed him Bishop of Atlacomulco on 27 June 1998, and he was consecrated bishop and took canonical possession of the diocese on 4 August 1998, principal consecrator Nuncio Justo Mullor García, co-consecrators Ricardo Guízar Díaz, Archbishop of Tlalnepantla, and Juan Guillermo López Soto, Bishop of Cuauhtémoc-Madera. Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Archbishop of Chihuahua on 29 September 2009, succeeding José Fernández Arteaga, whose age-limit resignation was accepted the same day; he took possession of the metropolitan chair on 19 November 2009 and received the pallium on 29 June 2010. After the death of José Andrés Corral Arredondo, Bishop of Parral, on 24 December 2011, he was designated apostolic administrator of Parral by the Congregation for Bishops, serving from 5 January to 27 June 2012 while remaining Archbishop of Chihuahua. He was principal consecrator of Mauricio Urrea Carrillo, Bishop of Parral, on 19 March 2021. He remained in office in 2026, leading 89 parishes and rectories.

Major Works & Initiatives
Statement on disaster-relief donations, as Bishop of Atlacomulco
Press statement of 27 October 1999, reported by ACI Prensa: Miranda asked the Mexican authorities to watch over international aid donations for disaster victims and condemned profiteering from them. Not a pastoral letter.
Edict opening the diocesan cause of Adalberto Almeida y Merino
Edict signed 21 August 2017, opening the diocesan phase of the cause of Archbishop Adalberto Almeida y Merino, fourth bishop and second archbishop of Chihuahua; reported by Vida Nueva Digital, 21 August 2017.
Circular 13/18: II Congreso Católico para Mujeres
Archdiocesan circular, Chihuahua, 16 March 2018, announcing the II Congreso Católico para Mujeres, 28-29 April 2018, Salón Renasci Eventos, Chihuahua; signed by Miranda Weckmann as Archbishop of Chihuahua.
Sunday-obligation dispensation during COVID-19
Reported decision of 17 March 2020, dispensing the faithful of Chihuahua from the obligation of Sunday Mass and feasts of precept, with parish churches, chapels, and rectories remaining open for prayer and sacraments; reported by ACI Prensa, 20 March 2020. The archdiocesan text itself was not located.
In His Own Words
proponer y buscar, por todos los medios, la reconciliación y el perdón ... la práctica de la paz arrastra a la paz.
Statement as Archbishop of Chihuahua, reported in the Guadalajara archdiocesan chronicle entry dated 21 December 2010, 'Actividades de la Arquidiócesis de Guadalajara del 15 de diciembre del 2010 al 14 de enero del 2011'. Reported speech; the chronicle gives no venue for the original statement. Two fragments, 21 words in total.
No se debe lucrar con la desgracia de los demás y mucho menos aprovecharse de la buena fe de los que ayudan
Statement as Bishop of Atlacomulco, ACI Prensa news item, Mexico, 27 October 1999, 'Obispo pide velar por donación para damnificados'. 22 words.
conservan un vivo y emocionado recuerdo
From the edict opening the diocesan cause of Adalberto Almeida y Merino, signed 21 August 2017, as quoted by Vida Nueva Digital, 21 August 2017. 6 words.
The Old Mass, See by See
Parral2012-01-05 – 2012-06-27administrator
Held before Traditionis Custodes; no record on the old Mass falls in this tenure.
Chihuahua2009-11-19 – presentNo act of his own
What he inheritedNo provision for the 1962 Missal inherited from Jose Fernandez Arteaga is established in the record. A March 2016 Una Voce interview reported the Extraordinary Form offered regularly in Chihuahua Cathedral under Summorum Pontificum; that predates the Traditionis custodes window and is not a governing act of his from 16 July 2021 onward.
Since the SSPX decree of 2 July 2026: No statement recorded as of 2026-10-28.
Reviewed 2026-10-28Confidence: medium
Atlacomulco1998-08-04 – 2009-11-19
Held before Traditionis Custodes; no record on the old Mass falls in this tenure.
Domus Dei’s Verdict
The Bishop & the Mass of Ages
No governing act of his own found
References & Further Reading
1.
Historia — Diocese of AtlacomulcoDiocesan history: appointed second Bishop of Atlacomulco 27 June 1998; ordained bishop 4 August 1998, taking canonical possession the same day; sede vacante from 19 November 2009 to 28 July 2010 under diocesan administrator Camerino Contreras Apolonio; successor Juan Odilon Martinez Garcia appointed 30 April 2010, ordained and in possession 28 July 2010. The same history dates his naming as Archbishop of Chihuahua to 3 September 2009; that date is not used, the appointment having been announced 29 September 2009.
2.
Nominations and Resignations, 2009 — GCatholic · 200929 September 2009: Archbishop Jose Fernandez Arteaga resigned as Metropolitan Archbishop of Chihuahua; Bishop Constancio Miranda Weckmann, Bishop of Atlacomulco, was promoted as Metropolitan Archbishop of Chihuahua.
3.
Constancio Miranda Weckmann — Spanish WikipediaPossession of the metropolitan chair 19 November 2009, citing El Universal 29 September 2009 and Carlos Coria, Excelsior, 19 November 2009; the Excelsior report itself was not opened. Priestly offices, CEM offices, pallium 29 June 2010, and Parral designation in January 2012 rest on this page alone and are flagged as such. Its 26 June 1998 Atlacomulco appointment date is not used; the diocesan history's 27 June governs. The roster row for Chihuahua carries no from, from_basis, or from_source; this dossier supplies 2009-11-19 possession from the sources cited here.
4.
Constancio Miranda Weckmann — Italian WikipediaApostolic administrator of Parral from 5 January to 27 June 2012; bulletin footnote 'Rinunce e nomine, 29.09.2009, Bollettino della Sala stampa della Santa Sede'. The 2009 bulletin itself was not opened and its URL was never returned by search. This page's birthplace 'Las Cruces, negli Stati Uniti' conflates Las Cruces, Chihuahua, with Las Cruces, New Mexico, and is not used.
5.
Constancio Miranda Weckmann — English WikipediaBorn 15 September 1952, Cruces, Chihuahua; motto Cristo vence; ordination 30 September 1977 by Justo Goizueta Gridilla; consecration 4 August 1998 by Justo Mullor Garcia; appointed Atlacomulco 27 June 1998; appointed Chihuahua 29 September 2009; installed as archbishop of Chihuahua 19 November 2009, citing the unopened Excelsior report. Its gloss '(Christ comes)' for Cristo vence is a mistranslation and is not used; the motto is carried as 'Christ conquers'.
6.
Historia - Diócesis de Parral — Diocese of ParralAfter a seven-month vacancy, Eduardo Carmona Ortega's solemn ministry start took place 25 July 2012, bounding the end of the Parral administration; Mauricio Urrea Carrillo was consecrated bishop 19 March 2021 by the Archbishop of Chihuahua, Constancio Miranda Weckmann, with Nuncio Franco Coppola and Jose Leopoldo Gonzalez Gonzalez as co-consecrators.
7.
Comienza la Arquidiócesis de Chihuahua proceso para canonizar al obispo Almeida — Vida Nueva Digital · 2017Edict signed 21 August 2017 opening the diocesan phase of Almeida's cause; fragment quoted from the edict as reported.
8.
Circular 13/18 — Constancio Miranda Weckmann · Archdiocese of Chihuahua · 2018Archdiocesan Circular 13/18, Chihuahua, 16 March 2018, announcing the II Congreso Catolico para Mujeres, 28-29 April 2018; signed by Miranda Weckmann as Archbishop of Chihuahua.
9.
Archivo de noticias, 27-10-99 — ACI Prensa · 199927 October 1999 item 'Obispo pide velar por donacion para damnificados': as Bishop of Atlacomulco, Miranda asked the Mexican authorities to watch over international aid donations and condemned profiteering; fragment quoted verbatim.
10.
Boletín 2011-2-2 — Archdiocese of Guadalajara · 2011Chronicle entry dated 21 December 2010: the Archbishop of Chihuahua affirmed Christians must propose and seek reconciliation and forgiveness as an alternative to insecurity and violence, since the practice of peace draws peace. Reported speech; no venue given.
11.
¿Quién es el Arzobispo que negó la práctica de exorcismos en Chihuahua? Esto se sabe — Joslin Arellanes · Azteca Chihuahua · 2026Published 28 July 2026: born 15 September 1952, Las Cruces, Chihuahua; ordained priest 1977; bishop 1998; leading the Archdiocese of Chihuahua since 2009, guiding 89 parishes and rectories. Current-office corroboration.
12.
In the country of the Cristeros, the Mass reemerges — Felipe Alanís Suárez (interviewee) · FIUV / Paix Liturgique · 2016March 2016 interview: 'The same spirit of goodwill has allowed for the bishop of Chihuahua to guide the Extraordinary Form regularly, and has been offered in the Cathedral of Chihuahua.' Pre-Traditionis custodes background under Summorum Pontificum only; not a governing act of Miranda's from 16 July 2021 onward and not counted toward his posture.
13.
Coronavirus en México: ¿En qué diócesis hay Misas públicas y en cuáles no? — ACI Prensa via Agencia Católica de Noticias de México · 2020ACI Prensa roundup, 20 March 2020. As Archbishop of Chihuahua, Miranda Weckmann announced on 17 March 2020 the dispensation of the faithful from Sunday Mass and feasts of precept, with churches, chapels, and rectories remaining open.
Portrait: Mextradicion / Wikimedia Commons
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