(ANS – Rome) – The work of the General Council is proceeding at full speed: during this winter’s plenary session, Fr. Fabio Attard, Rector Major of the Salesians, with the consent of the other members of the Council, designated Fr. Francisco Cervantes Huitron as the new Superior of the Christ the King and Mary Help of Christians Province of Guadalajara Mexico (MEG).

Founded on August 30, 1963, canonically erected by the Rector Major Fr. Renato Ziggiotti, the MEG Province has 25 communities located in 13 states of the country, and animates a vast pastoral mission through 53 parishes, public churches and sanctuaries; 23 oratories; 15 schools and non-formal educational centers; 6 social works and 3 Work Training Centers. There are a total of 130 Salesians in the Province.

Francisco Cervantes Huitron was born in Tlaxcala, Mexico, on April 2, 1972, and entered the Salesian novitiate in Vista, Chula in 1990. He made his first profession on August 16, 1991, and his perpetual profession on September 7, 1997, in Irapuato. He received his priestly ordination on June 24, 2000, in León.

After completing a Licentiate in Biblical Studies at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome (2003-07), he served as Oratory Director in the Taqueplaque Theological Studentate community (2007-10). He then completed a Master’s Degree in Education at the University of Guadalajara (2010-11), served as Rector and Economer in the Chihuahua work (2011-14), and was also Vice-Rector of the MEG Provincial House community (2017-22).

In his Province of Guadalajara, Mexico, he was Provincial Delegate for Formation (2014-2020), and also Provincial Delegate for Youth Ministry from 2014-2023. He also served as Provincial Councillor for the same Province until 2023, when he moved to Rome, to the Sacred Heart community at Salesian Headquarters, where he works in the Youth Ministry Sector, offering his valuable service.

Fr. Cervantes will become the 13th Superior of the Guadalajara Mexico Province and will succeed Fr. Filiberto González Plasencia, who has led the Province since 2020.