José Ariel Guerrero Castro was born on 20 July 1962 in La Unión, Colombia; he attended the Salesian novitiate in La Ceja, between 1985 and 1986, and there he professed his first vows on 24 January 1986. After continuing his initial formation, he professed his perpetual vows on 11 January 1992 in La Ceja and was ordained priest in Rio Negro on 23 July 1994.
Among his assignments he was Vice-Rector of the San Juan Bosco Institute in Cali (1995-1998) and in Rio Negro (1998); then he served as Rector of the Novitiate in La Ceja and Director of Novices (2006-2012), then as Rector (2013-2018) and Economer (2014-2016) in Cali. Since 2018 he has been the Rector of the Provincial House in Medellín, of which in 2019 he also became Economer.
At the provincial level he has been Delegate for Formation (2004-2007 and 2011-2013) and for Vocational Ministry (2004-2007), as well as Economer, since 2021.
Fr Guerrero will succeed Fr Luis Fernando Valencia Mosquera as Provincial, who has been serving COM Province since 2018, and will thus become the 11th Superior of this Province.
