On Thursday, the Pope appointed Ernesto Giobando as bishop of the Argentinian diocese.
Giobando is a Jesuit and auxiliary bishop in Buenos Aires.
Since January, he has been temporarily leading Mar del Plata as Apostolic Administrator appointed directly by the Pope.
The vacancy in the diocese was triggered by the appointment of the then Archbishop of La Plata, Víctor Manuel Fernández, as Prefect of the Dicastery of the Faith in 2023. His successor was the Bishop of Mar del Plata, Gabrial Antonio Mestre.
Originally, the auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires, José María Baliña, was originally supposed to take over the diocese of Mar del Plata.
However, he withdrew for health reasons shortly before his inauguration.
Second candidate withdrew due to accusations
In the second attempt, the Pope wanted to appoint the Gustavo Larrazábal, auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of San Juan de Cuyo.
But he did not take office either: In January, Larrazábal's resignation was accepted.
No official reasons were given for this, but it was previously announced that Larrazábal had been accused of harassment and abuse of power between 2007 and 2013.
Giobando, who turns 65 on Friday, is, like Pope Francis, a member of the Jesuit order, which he joined in 1978. He was ordained a priest in 1990.
In 2014, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, where he was previously responsible for adult pastoral care. He is a member of the Commission for Social Pastoral Care in the Argentinian Bishops' Conference.
Mar del Plata is not the only diocese with such problems: In January, the south English diocese of Plymouth failed to fill the the appointment of the bishop for the second timeafter the designated bishop Philip Moger, suffragan bishop in the archdiocese of Southwark, did not take up the post due to "concerns of a personal nature".
The first candidate did not take office following a canonical enquiry into unknown allegations against him, which was was unsuccessful.