Vatican City, 14 July 2016 – The Holy Father appointed Fr. Oswaldo Estéfano Escobar Aguilar, O.C.D., as bishop of Chalatenango (area 2,017, population 291,000, Catholics 261,200, priests 43, permanent deacons 1, religious 43), El Salvador. The bishop-elect was born in 1968 in the canton of Chiapas, El Salvador, gave his solemn vows in 1995 and was ordained a priest in 1996. He took courses in philosophy and theology at the "Francisco Marroquín" University of Guatemala, and holds a Master's degree in mysticism and spirituality from the Centro Internacional Teresiano de Ávila, Spain, and a licentiate in spiritual theology from the Pontifical Theological Faculty "Teresianum", Rome. After ordination he served as prior and formator of students of philosophy in Guatemala; parish priest in Lapeterique, Honduras, prior and formator in Francisco Morazán, Honduras, prior and formator of students of theology in Guatemala and member of the provincial council, superior provincial of Central America from 2013 to 2016 and president of the Conference of Men and Women Religious of El Salvador from 2014, an office he continues to hold. He succeeds Bishop Luis Morao Andreazza, O.F.M., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.