Ulises Aurelio Casiano Vargas

[1] Casiano was born at the Palmarejo ward in the nearby town of Lajas, which is also the birthplace of the first native Puerto Rican Roman Catholic cardinal, Luis Aponte Martínez.

He attended the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico[citation needed] in nearby Ponce, from which he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Education (Social Sciences) in 1955.

He later obtained a Juris Doctor degree in Canonical Law from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Monsignor Casiano was named first bishop for the newly created Diocese of the Mayaguez by Pope Paul VI on March 3, 1976, and was consecrated by Cardinal Aponte Martínez on April 30, 1976.

A former choirmaster while studying at the Regina Cleri seminar, Casiano has promoted the development of the musical ministries associated with the Mayagüez diocese.

His stamina, charisma and tenacity earned him the name The Obispator, a portmanteau of the Spanish word for bishop, obispo, and The Terminator (the movie character played by Arnold Schwarzenegger).