Ricardo Watty Urquidi

Ricardo Watty Urquidi, M.Sp.S. (July 16, 1938 – November 1, 2011) was a Mexican-American Roman Catholic bishop and a member of the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit. At the time of his death, he was serving as the seventh Bishop of the Diocese of Tepic in Nayarit, Mexico.

Biography He was born in San Diego, California, on July 16, 1938, to Carlos Watty and María de los Dolores Urquidi, the eldest of five children. He grew up with his family in Tijuana, Baja California, where he attended La Paz School and San Isidro Academy.

Missionary of the Holy Spirit At the age of 13, he entered the Apostolic School of the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit in Tlalpan, Mexico City. In 1956 he entered the novitiate, and two years later he professed his religious vows as a Missionary of the Holy Spirit.

He studied philosophy from 1959 to 1961. That same year, he was sent to the Diocese of Alajuela in Costa Rica, where he served as a teacher and formator at the minor seminary operated by his congregation. He later returned to Mexico to complete his theological studies.

He headed the Second Pastoral Vicariate of the Archdiocese as Episcopal Vicar and also served as Episcopal Vicar for the Laity throughout the Archdiocese of Mexico. The experience deeply influenced him and inspired him to promote a renewed missionary spirit in evangelization, especially through the accompaniment and formation of the laity.

Diocese of Tepic On February 21, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him the seventh Bishop of Tepic, succeeding Bishop Alfonso Humberto Robles Cota upon the latter’s retirement due to age.

On April 11 of that year, he formally took canonical possession of the diocese during a Eucharistic celebration held at the Concha Acústica in Tepic, attended by more than four thousand people. The first part of the Mass was presided over by Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, with thirty-five bishops and more than two hundred priests participating. Apostolic Nuncio Christophe Pierre presented him with the papal bull appointing him Bishop of Tepic.

Apostolic Visitor to the Legionaries of Christ In April 2009, Pope Benedict XVI selected him as one of five Apostolic Visitors tasked with conducting a worldwide review of the Legionaries of Christ. Bishop Ricardo Watty visited forty-three communities of the congregation throughout Latin America, interviewed 360 Legionaries, and listened attentively to victims.

In his reports to the Holy See, he called for a renewal and purification of the congregation’s formation system and emphasized the urgent need to restructure its authority in a way that would be genuinely evangelical.

Pastoral Initiatives In Tepic, he presided over the Tenth National Youth Missionary Congress (CONAJUM), held from July 23 to 26, 2009, with more than ten thousand young participants from across Mexico. The event sought to strengthen Christian identity as missionary disciples. During the closing Mass, he launched the “Continental Mission” in the diocese, following one of the commitments made by the bishops at Aparecida, encouraging the Church to live in a “permanent state of mission.” He presented a cross to each parish as a symbol of that mission.

On November 13, 2010, after two years of reflection and diocesan assemblies following a forward-looking pastoral methodology, he promulgated the First Diocesan Pastoral Plan titled Living Church: Missionary Disciples in Communion.

During his episcopal ministry in Tepic, he ordained eight deacons and two priests. The last Eucharistic celebration he presided over took place on Saturday, October 29, 2011, at the Cathedral of Tepic, during the visit of the relics of the then Blessed John Paul II to the diocese.