Morales was born in the Iztacalco borough of Mexico City. He is the second of three children of Salvador González and María de Lourdes Morales. Morales studied food engineering at Mexico's National Polytechnic Institute. In preparing to be a Catholic priest, Morales attended seminary at the Conciliar Seminary of Mexico.[2][3][4]
Morales was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Mexico in Mexico City on May 18, 2002. Morales began a licentiate program immediately following his ordination and completed his studies at the Gregorianum in Rome in 2004. He completed further studies at the Superior Institute of Ecclesiastical Studies in 2005.[5][6]
He spent much of his priesthood supporting higher education, but he also worked in parish ministry. He served as vice-rector of the Conciliar Seminary of Mexico from 2007 to 2011. From 2012 to 2014, he oversaw a bachelor's degree program at the Pontifical University of Mexico and coordinated a master's degree in philosophy at the Universidad Catolica Lumen Gentium from 2014 to 2016. From 2014 until his appointment as auxiliary bishop, he served variously as parochial vicar, pastor, and a dean within the Archdiocese of Mexico.[1][4]
In 2019, Pope Francis appointed Morales an auxiliary bishop of Mexico. As an auxiliary bishop, he served as vicar general for the archdiocese. Morales's service in the Archdiocese of Mexico is remembered as a faithful, generous, and responsible, and he received praise from the Episcopal Conference of Mexico.[1][5][6] Morales is thought to be in the inner circle of Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes.[3]
Pope Leo XIV appointed Morales bishop of Cancún-Chetumal on December 6, 2025, succeeding Pedro Pablo Elizondo Cárdenas, L.C. This appointment comes as Cancún experiences a growing population.[7][8]
Morales is the first bishop of that diocese who is not a member of the Legionaries of Christ. The former Legionary bishop of Cancún-Chetumal, Pedro Pablo, is known to have "rescued" the diocese during a period of cultural change in the Yucatan region and is well regarded.[3][8] However, Legionaries have been surrounded by controversies, and some reporters take Morales's appointment as signaling change in the diocese. Legionaries make up over a third of all priests in the Diocese of Cancún-Chetumal, and Morales ordained several Mexican Legionary priests and deacons as an auxiliary bishop.[4][9][10][11]
