Álvaro Corrada del Río, S.J. (born May 13, 1942) is a Puerto Rican prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and member of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

. Corrada served as the Bishop of Mayagüez from 2011 until his retirement in 2020. He previously served as Bishop of Tyler in Texas from 2001 to 2011, as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Caguas from 1997 to 2001 and as an

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

in the

Archdiocese of Washington In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

from 1985 to 1997. He served as the

apostolic administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of the Diocese of Arecibo from March to October 2022.

Biography

Early life

Álvaro Corrada was born on May 13, 1942, in the Santurce section of

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

. He has an older brother,

Baltasar Corrada del Río Baltasar Corrada del Río (April 10, 1935 – March 11, 2018) was a Puerto Rican politician. He held various high political offices in the island, including President of the Puerto Rico Civil Rights Commission, Resident Commissioner (1977–198 ...

, who served as Mayor of San Juan. After attending the local public schools, Álvaro Corrada entered the

minor seminary A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Priesthood (Catholic Church), Catholic priests. They are generally ...

of what was then the Diocese of San Juan in 1955. In 1960, Corrada entered the Society of Jesus at their

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Poughkeepsie (town), New York, Town of Poughkeepsie, New York (state), New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, New York, Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie i ...

. After completing his initial period of formation and professing his initial

religious vows Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices, and views. In the Buddhist tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, many different kinds of r ...

to the Jesuits, he studied at

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

in Bronx, New York, and later

Woodstock College Woodstock College was a Society of Jesus, Jesuit seminary that existed from 1869 to 1974. It was the oldest Jesuit seminary in the United States. The school was located in Woodstock, Maryland, west of Baltimore, from its establishment until 1969, ...

in Woodstock, Maryland.

Priesthood

Corrada was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood for the Society of Jesus by Bishop Miguel Rodriguez on July 6, 1974. After his ordination, Corrada went to Paris to study at the Catholic Institute of Paris. After returning to the United States, Corrada he was assigned as the director of

spiritual retreats Spiritual is the adjective for the noun "spirit" ( animating force or supernatural entity). Spiritual may also refer to: Religion *Spirituality, the quality or state of being spiritual, traditionally referring to a religious process of re-forma ...

at Mount Manresa Jesuit Retreat House on

Staten Island, New York Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

. Following that assignment, he served as an

assistant pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicis ...

at the Jesuit-run Nativity Parish on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

of Manhattan (1980–1983). In 1983, Corrada was appointed director of the Northeast Pastoral Center for Hispanics in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Auxiliary Bishop of Washington

On May 31, 1985, Corrada was appointed as an

of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., and titular bishop of Rusticiana, by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

. He received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

on August 4, 1985, from Archbishop James Hickey of, with Bishops Thomas Lyons and Eugene Marino serving as co-

consecrator A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches ...

s, at the

Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is a Catholic minor basilica and national shrine in Washington D.C. It is the largest Catholic church building in North America and is also the tallest habitable building in Wa ...

in Washington. Corrada selected as his episcopal

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

: ''Neminem nisi Iesum'' (No one but Jesus). Corrada was named

of the Diocese of Caguas in Puerto Rico as an additional responsibility on July 5, 1997.

Bishop of Tyler

Corrada was appointed by John Paul II as the third bishop of the Diocese of Tyler on December 5, 2000, and was installed on January 30, 2001.

Bishop of Mayagüez

Corrada was appointed by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

as bishop of the Diocese of Mayagüez on July 6, 2011; he was installed September 12, 2011. On May 9, 2020,

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

accepted Corrada's resignation as bishop of Mayagüez after he reached the age of 75.

Apostolic Administrator of Arecibo

In March 2022, Francis appointed Corrada as the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Arecibo, following the ouster of Daniel Fernández Torres due to his refusal to resign. He ceased being apostolic administrator when Francis appointed Alberto Arturo Figueroa Morales as bishop.

Viewpoints

Tridentine Mass

Corrada was one of the earliest proponents of the

Tridentine Mass The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite or ''usus antiquior'' (), Vetus Ordo or the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) or the Traditional Rite, is the liturgy in the Roman Missal of the Catholic Church codified in ...

following the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

. Before the issuance of the apostolic letter ''

Summorum Pontificum (English: 'Of the Supreme Pontiffs') is an Ecclesiastical letter#Letters of the popes in modern times, apostolic letter of Pope Benedict XVI, issued on 7 July 2007. This letter specifies the circumstances in which Priesthood in the Catholic Chur ...

'' by Pope Benedict XVI, he was singled out in an article in '' The Wanderer'' as one of the few American bishops "...who have been generous in the

Ecclesia Dei ''Ecclesia Dei'' is the document Pope John Paul II issued on 2 July 1988 in reaction to the Ecône consecrations, in which four priests of the Society of Saint Pius X were ordained as bishops despite an express prohibition by the Holy See. The co ...

indult application, as requested and emphasized repeatedly by the late Pope John Paul II."Bishops Bruskewitz and Corrada expect 1962 missal to play important future role"
February 1, 2006

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Mayaguez

Episcopal succession

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corrada Del Rio, Alvaro 1942 births Living people Religious leaders from Texas People from Santurce, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican Jesuits 21st-century Puerto Rican clergy 20th-century Puerto Rican clergy 20th-century American Jesuits 21st-century American Jesuits Fordham University alumni 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Puerto Rico 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Puerto Rico Jesuit bishops Roman Catholic bishops of Mayaguez Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre