Celebrating 50 Years as a Priest
Bishop Emeritus of Mayagüez – Morovis, Puerto Rico
Bishop Álvaro Corrada del Río, SJ, this year marks the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. He served as bishop of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, from 2011 until his retirement in 2020. His episcopal motto is Neminem nisi Iesum (No One but Jesus). He was the first Puerto Rican-born bishop in the United States.
Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on May 13, 1942, Bishop Corrada entered the minor seminary in the Diocese of San Juan in 1955. In 1960, he entered the Jesuit novitiate in Poughkeepsie, New York, completing his studies at St. Andrew on Hudson Seminary and Fordham University. He taught at Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola in Puerto Rico and at Xavier High School in New York before completing religious studies at Woodstock College in New York.
Bishop Corrada was ordained in 1974 by Bishop Miguel Rodriguez of Arecibo and then went to Paris to study theology at the Catholic Institute. He returned to New York, where he directed retreats at Mount Manresa Jesuit Retreat House, served in marriage ministry, and was assistant pastor of Nativity Parish on the Lower East Side. He served as director of the Northeast Pastoral Center for Hispanics from 1982-1985.
In 1985, Pope John Paul II appointed then-Father Corrada the first auxiliary bishop of Hispanic origin in the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. Archbishop James Hickey consecrated him a bishop on Aug. 4, 1985, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. He served as auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Washington until 2001.
In 2001, Bishop Corrada was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, where he served until 2011. He then returned to Puerto Rico as bishop of Mayagüez after his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI. Following his 2020 retirement, Bishop Corrada served as apostolic administrator in 2022 for the Diocese of Arecibo.
