 He was ordained priest on July 29, 1951, following studies at the San José seminary in Quito and the Pontifical University of Salamanca, Spain, where he obtained a doctorate in canon law.He was made auxiliary bishop of Quito on May 17, 1969 (with the titular diocese of Tagarata) and was consecrated as bishop in Quito on June 15, 1969, by Cardinal Pablo Muñoz Vega, SJ, Archbishop of Quito.He was made Bishop of Machala on June 30, 1978, and then Coadjutor Archbishop of Quito on June 28, 1980.