Francisco Javier Acero Pérez

Francisco Javier Acero Pérez, O.A.R., was born on 29 November 1973 at Valladolid, Spain, and was ordained a priest on 31 July 1999; the CEM directorio and the Order of Augustinian Recollects agree on both dates, and the roster born date agrees. He is a religious of the Order of Augustinian Recollects (O.A.R.), Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine, Spanish by origin and naturalized Mexican; at his appointment he was Vicar Provincial in Mexico, and OAR calls him the twenty-third Augustinian Recollect bishop in the world. His formation, in his own words in the OAR pre-ordination interview, was Saint Augustine School, Valladolid, from September 1975, twelve years there, Colegio San Jose de Lodosa 1989-1992, novitiate at Monteagudo, and philosophy and theology at Marcilla, Navarra, six years. He was 'consecrated as an Augustinian Recollect religious' in 1993, in OAR's wording, reported here in that wording and not silently upgraded to a dated solemn-profession formula. On 31 July 1999, a few hours before his ordination, the prior provincial told him his destination would be Mexico City, the parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe de los Hospitales; his priestly ordainer is not named in any opened source and is left blank.

His priestly offices, on OAR reporting, were parochial vicar and pastor, and chaplain, at Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de los Hospitales, colonia Doctores, Mexico City, for 13 years, animator and coordinator of the permanent mission and the evangelizing missionary process in the same neighborhood (1999-2012), Dean of the former V Episcopal Vicariate of San Pedro Apostol, promoter and first president of the social work CARDI (2006), the Centro de Acompañamiento y Recuperación de Desarrollo Integral, an Augustinian Recollect institution helping the sick and their families in the colonia Doctores hospitals, and member of the Medical Ethics and Bioethics Committee of the Hospital de Especialidades CMN Siglo XXI. From 2012 in Queretaro he was director of the Fray Luis de Leon School, coordinator and promoter of CEAR (Center of Augustinian Recollect Spirituality), founder of Recoletos TV (content reaches 22 countries), and accompanier of the JAR (Augustinian Recollect Youth) movement. He was major superior, described also as Vicar Provincial, of the Augustinian Recollects in Mexico and Costa Rica for the last seven years at appointment (roughly 2015-2022), the two descriptions being the same office, not two offices, and he led implementation of the Augustinian Recollect International Solidarity Network ARCORES in Mexico and Costa Rica. His degrees and training were a Licentiate in Theology from the University of Navarra, a degree in Psychology from the Universidad Intercontinental, studies in Gestalt Psychotherapy (INTEGRO), a diploma in Participative Pastoral Planning from the Pontifical University of Mexico, and a specialism in Institutional Communication and digital evangelization; he was professor at the Pontifical University of Mexico (2020-2021), in Pastoral Theology and in the Master in Theology and Psychodynamics of the family, and a specialist in prevention of abuse in the Church and protection of vulnerable people, and a member of the CEPROME Latin America Council.

He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Mexico on 15 September 2022, with the titular see of Sufasar, and was consecrated bishop on 18 November 2022 at 11:00 in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City, with Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes as principal consecrator and, as rendered in the OAR English text, 'the Nuncio and the Recollect Bishop Carlos Briseño as main coordinating bishops,' read as co-consecrators; the Nuncio is not named in the OAR English text, so no Nuncio name is asserted as OAR-confirmed, and about 30 bishops and about 120 priests attended. No separate installation distinct from the consecration was found, so the tenure codes from consecration under the auxiliary-start rule. He was still auxiliary bishop of Mexico at as_of: Catholic World Report of 16 January 2026 has Cardinal Aguiar accompanied by his auxiliary bishop Francisco Javier Acero Pérez, O.A.R., to meet Pope Leo XIV on 14 January 2026, and of 25 March 2026 places him celebrating Mass on 15 March 2026 at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. His concurrent archdiocesan roles, in his own words in the OAR vicariate interview of November 2023, were the Vicariate of Laity in the World, directly entrusted by Cardinal Aguiar, with thirteen dimensions, support to the archdiocesan Catholic University Lumen Gentium and to a Preparatory and a High School belonging to the archdiocese, coordination of the Juvenile Commission and the Communication Office, and the territory of the second pastoral zone; these are offices, background only, never tenures. In the CEM he was Primer Vocal of the C.E. para la Pastoral de la Comunicación for the triennium 2024-2027, a conference office, background only.

His motto is 'I want mercy,' in his own words in the OAR pre-ordination interview, asked what the motto of his episcopate would be: ''I want mercy' is the motto.' The shield carries three elements: the land where he was born and where his faith began; Mexico, where he learned to be consecrated and a priest; and the third element Augustinian, the three realities that have marked his life. The English form ships with this rendering note because the opened sources are OAR English renderings of Spanish originals and no Spanish OAR original was opened, so no Spanish motto string is asserted; the expanded thanksgiving-speech form ('mercy I ask, mercy I want') is motto evidence, never a quotation. His public ministry in the opened press items is the National Dialogue for Peace, launched after the 2022 murders of Jesuit priests Javier Campos and Joaquin Mora, with more than 300 initiatives across Mexico, and abuse prevention through listening to victims, on which he is quoted below; his Nov 2023 interview discusses structural change and tradition in general terms, including the Mahler line that tradition is the transmission of the fire, not the worship of ashes, attributed by him to Mahler and cited by the Pope, which is never his own governing act and never a 1962-Missal act.