Living · Mexico · Bishop

Juan Manuel González Sandoval

Bishop of Tarahumara

Bishop

1964

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Ordained

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Consecrated Bishop

Tarahumara

Diocese

Mexico

Country

The Life

Juan Manuel González Sandoval, M.N.M., of the Missionaries of the Nativity of Mary, was born on 20 February 1964 in Guáscuaro, Mexico. He gave his religious vows in 1990, his perpetual vows on 7 September 1990, and was ordained a priest on 2 July 1991. He studied theology in the major seminary of the Archdiocese of León and holds a degree in the science of education, specializing in pedagogy for the formation of vocations, from the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome.

As a priest he served as chaplain at Montaña de Cristo Rey, Cubilete, in 1991-1992; as formator in the minor and major seminary of Santa Ana del Conde, Guanajuato, in 1992-1993; as coordinator of vocational pastoral ministry of the Missionary Congregation of the Nativity of Mary in 1993-1998; and as lecturer and formator in ethics and pedagogy in the congregation's seminary and chaplain in various religious houses in León in 2001-2008. Since 2008 he has served as pastor of Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, Sanjuanito, Chihuahua, in Tarahumara; as coordinator of permanent formation of the Missionaries of the Nativity of Mary; as diocesan coordinator of catechesis; as a member of the presbyteral council; and as coordinator of the commission for prophetic pastoral ministry of the ecclesiastical province of Chihuahua.

Pope Francis appointed him Bishop of Tarahumara on 4 February 2017, and he was consecrated bishop on 1 April 2017. No separate installation date has been established, and his principal consecrator and co-consecrators are not established in any opened source; the tenure runs from his consecration, the first-see rule, and the 4 February 2017 appointment date must not be used as the tenure start.

Major Works & Initiatives

Statement on violence in Guachochi

Diocesan statement released 21 October 2022, in his own name as Bishop of Tarahumara, lamenting clashes in Guachochi between organized-crime groups fighting over illegal logging, thanking the security forces for their prompt response while saying it was not enough, and demanding a security policy from all three levels of government. Reported in English by CNA on 24 October 2022 via Catholic World Report. A statement, not a pastoral letter; the Spanish original was not opened, so its wording is not quoted as Spanish here.

In His Own Words

we don't want to live in war

Statement on violence in Guachochi, released 21 October 2022, as reported in English by CNA, Catholic World Report, 24 October 2022. 7 words. CNA's English rendering; the ACI Prensa Spanish original was not opened.

We seek and want peace!

Same statement and publication. 5 words. CNA's English rendering.

The Church and the general public, we're not your enemies or adversaries! We are people of good will who want and demand to live in peace

Same statement and publication. 26 words. CNA's English rendering. Three fragments from this one work, 38 words in total, within the 50-word cap for the work; the longer demand sentence from the same statement is paraphrased in the works entry, not quoted.

The Old Mass, See by See

Tarahumara2017-04-01 – presentNo act of his own

What he inheritedNo provision for the 1962 Missal inherited from a predecessor is established in the record.

Since the SSPX decree of 2 July 2026: No statement recorded as of 2026-10-28.

Reviewed 2026-10-28Confidence: medium

Domus Dei’s Verdict

The Bishop & the Mass of Ages

No governing act of his own found

References & Further Reading

Other Pontifical Acts, 04.02.2017 — Holy See Press Office · 2017Appointment as Bishop of Tarahumara 4 February 2017; born 1964 in Guáscuaro; religious vows 1990; priestly ordination 1991; theology in the major seminary of the Archdiocese of León; degree in science of education, Pontifical Salesian University; priestly offices 1991-2008. The bulletin misspells the see Tarahamura and the archdiocese León; read as Tarahumara and León. The bulletin bio jumps from 1993-1998 to 2001-2008; his offices in 1998-2001 are unaccounted for in every opened source and are not filled in here.

Diocese of Tarahumara, Mexico — GCatholicBorn 1964.02.20, Guáscuaro; ordained priest 1991.07.02; consecrated bishop 2017.04.01, Bishop of Tarahumara. The display date 2017.02.04 beside his name is his appointment date, not possession or consecration, and is not used as the tenure start. GCatholic prints mottos for his two predecessors but none for him; no motto is reported.

7 September, Living Bishop Events — Catholic-Hierarchy · 1990Juan Manuel González Sandoval, M.N.M., perpetual vows 7 September 1990, member of the Missionaries of the Nativity of Mary.

2 July, Living Bishop Events — Catholic-Hierarchy · 1991Juan Manuel González Sandoval, M.N.M., ordained priest 2 July 1991, priest of the Missionaries of the Nativity of Mary.

1 April, Living Bishop Events — Catholic-Hierarchy · 2017Juan Manuel González Sandoval, M.N.M., ordained bishop 1 April 2017, Bishop of Tarahumara, Chihuahua, Mexico, in the 2017 block, age 53.1.

We don't want to live in war, says bishop in violence-plagued Mexico — Catholic World Report · 2022CNA report, 24 October 2022, of his statement released 21 October 2022 on the Guachochi clashes: the three quoted fragments are verified verbatim in this English rendering. The story notes it was first published by ACI Prensa and translated and adapted by CNA; the Spanish original was not opened. The same page records the 20 June 2022 murders of Jesuits Javier Campos Morales and Joaquín César Mora Salazar at Cerocahui in the Sierra Tarahumara region; no statement of his own on Cerocahui was located.

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