Antonio María Rouco Varela

Antonio María Cardinal Rouco Varela (September 2006)

Cardinal's coat of arms

Antonio María Cardinal Rouco Varela (born August 20, 1936 in Villalba , Spain ) is a Spanish clergyman and emeritus Roman Catholic Archbishop of Madrid .

Life

Antonio María Rouco Varela attended a Catholic school and then studied Catholic theology at the Pontifical University of Salamanca . In 1959 he received the sacrament of ordination and was then sent to the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich for further studies , where he continued his education in law and Catholic theology and in 1964 with a thesis on the relationship between the state and the church PhD in Spain in the 16th century . Alongside his studies, he worked as a subsidiary in the Munich parish of St. Rafael.

His career as a university lecturer led him from 1964 to 1966 to the seminary of Mondoñedo , from 1966 to 1969 to the University of Munich and from 1969 to 1971 to the Pontifical University of Salamanca, of which he was co-responsible as deputy director in 1972.

Pope Paul VI appointed him on September 17, 1976 . as titular bishop of Gergis and auxiliary bishop in Santiago de Compostela . The episcopal ordination donated him on October 31 of the same year, the then Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela Ángel Suquía Goicoechea . On May 9, 1984, Pope John Paul II appointed him Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela, where he had been Apostolic Administrator since June 1983 . On July 28, 1994, he was appointed Archbishop of Madrid .

On February 21, 1998 John Paul II accepted him as a cardinal priest with the titular church of San Lorenzo in Damaso in the college of cardinals .

Antonio María Rouco Varela has published several canon law books and articles and is a member of the International Society for Canon Law .

He participated in the 2005 conclave , in which Benedict XVI. was elected and participated in the 2013 conclave in which Francis was elected. He was chairman of the Spanish Bishops' Conference from 1999 to 2005 and again from 2008 to 2014 , succeeded by Ricardo Blázquez Pérez . Rouco is assigned to the conservative wing within the Spanish episcopate .

After hosting the IV World Youth Day in Santiago de Compostela in 1989 , Rouco Varela was also the host of the XXVI in 2011 . World Youth Day in Madrid. In that year the Dámaso University in Madrid was founded.

At the beginning of February 2014, he was attacked by a group of Femen activists for supporting the draft law to tighten abortion law in Spain.

On August 28, 2014, Pope Francis accepted Antonio María Rouco Varela's resignation due to reasons of age.

Honors

• 2003: Grand Cross of the Isabel la Católica Order
• 2003: Honorary Doctorate from the University of Navarre

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Spain - The Archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, was elected as the new chairman of the Spanish Bishops' Conference on Tuesday. Vatican Radio , March 4, 2008, accessed March 30, 2018 . 
2. ↑ Javier Cáceres: The "Reserve of the Occident" is preparing to attack. Süddeutsche Zeitung , May 17, 2010, accessed on September 20, 2019 . 
3. ↑ Femen attacks Archbishop with panties. n-tv , February 3, 2014, accessed September 20, 2019 . 
4. ^ Rinuncia dell'Arcivescovo Metropolita di Madrid (Spagna) e nomina del successore. In: Daily Bulletino. Holy See Press Office , August 28, 2014, accessed September 20, 2019 (Italian). 

Web links

• Rouco Varela, Antonio María. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website), accessed January 25, 2019.
• Entry on Antonio María Rouco Varela on catholic-hierarchy.org

predecessor	Office	successor
Ángel Cardinal Suquía Goicoechea	Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela 1984–1994	Julián Barrio Barrio
Ángel Cardinal Suquía Goicoechea	Archbishop of Madrid 1994–2014	Carlos Cardinal Osoro Sierra
Elías Yanes Álvarez Ricardo Blázquez	Chairman of the Spanish Bishops' Conference 1999–2005 2008–2014	Ricardo Blázquez Ricardo Blázquez