José Morales Orozco, SJ studied literature at the Instituto Libre de Literatura in Puente Grande, Jalisco, and philosophy at the Instituto Libre de Filosofía y Ciencias in Mexico City. He later studied theology at the Colegio Máximo Cristo Rey in Mexico City.

In 1975 he was ordained a priest and appointed Academic Rector at the Instituto Libre de Literatura.

José Morales Orozco completed the basic Jesuit formation in Quebec, Canada in 1979. He entered the Pontificia Universidad de Comillas in Madrid in 1982 where he obtained his doctorate in Theology with his dissertation, The Epistemology of Theology in the Puebla Documents.

Upon his return in Mexico, he was appointed Rector of the Instituto Libre de Filosofía y Letras and Superior of the Philosophate of the Society of Jesus. He was appointed Provincial of the Jesuit province in Mexico from 1989 until 1995.

He was also president of the Conference of Mexican Priests and Nuns (CIRM) and president of the Conference of Northern Latin American Provincials from 1990 to 1995. And the Asociación de Universidades Confiadas a la Compañía de Jesús en América Latina (AUSJAL) had elected him as its President for 2009/11.