Father Gerardo Antonio Vargas Cruz, OFM, as coadjutor will serve alongside Bishop Luis Francisco Miranda Rivera, OCarm, who has led the Fajardo-Humacao Diocese since 2020. Vargas will also automatically succeed Miranda upon his retirement.
Miranda, who is 72 — three years short of the typical retirement age for bishops — did not provide a reason for the appointment of a coadjutor to his diocese.
A press conference to introduce the new coadjutor bishop was scheduled to take place at St. James the Apostle Cathedral in Fajardo on Sept. 8 at 1 p.m. local time.
Vargas, 49, is from Mayagüez, a town on the western coast of Puerto Rico. He joined the Franciscan friars minor and was ordained a priest in 2006. He has served as the vicar for clergy in the Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico since 2022.
The bishop-designate also has experience as a theology professor and a prison chaplain. He also served in several roles in the Franciscan order in the Caribbean.
The Diocese of Fajardo-Humacao, erected in 2008, serves approximately 63,500 Catholics — about 30% of the area’s total population.
It has a cathedral in Fajardo and a co-cathedral in Humacao.