His father was a parliamentarian for Aymaraes Province under the presidencies of Andrés Avelino Cáceres and Nicolás de Piérola.

On October 28, 1914, he was ordained as a priest in the city of Arequipa, receiving the respective Orders from Mariano Holguín [es].

After obtaining his doctorate, he continued his stay in Europe in pursuit of his achievements and studies of Greek, Hebrew and Latin.

On December 21, 1933, Pope Pius XI appointed him Titular Bishop of the Diocese of Puno in Peru, being consecrated for this purpose on May 20, 1934, and taking possession of its episcopal see on May 31 of the same year.

He was a notable polyglot, knowledgeable in both classical (Greek, Hebrew and Latin), modern (English, French, Italian, German) and Andean (Quechua, Aymara) languages, the latter of which he learned since his childhood in Quechua-speaking Apurímac.