Pope Benedict XVI has named 38 year-old Father Emigdio Duarte Figueroa, until now the rector of the Diocesan seminary in Culiacan, the new auxiliary bishop of Culiacan, making him the youngest bishop in the world.

Father Duarte Figueroa was born on May 5, 1968 in the city of Guamuchil in the Mexican state of Sinaloa.  After receiving a degree in computer science, he studied philosophy at the seminary in Culiacan and theology at the seminary in Guadalajara.

Figueroa was ordained a priest on June 29, 1996, and he received a Doctorate in Moral Theology at the Pontifical Lateran  University in Rome.

Since 2001 he has been the rector of the diocesan seminary and a professor at the Catholic University. He has also served as the Episcopal vicar for the clergy and as chaplain for several religious communities.

The second youngest bishop in the world is also Latin American: Auxiliary Bishop Marco Perez Caicedo of Guayaquil.