Antonio Cardinal Rouco Varela
Antonio María Cardinal Rouco Varela (born
24 August,
1936) was a
Cardinal Priest and Archbishop of
Madrid in the
Roman Catholic Church.
Born in
Villalba,
Spain, Rouco Varela studied theology at the
Pontifical University of Salamanca from
1954 to
1958. He was ordained as a priest in
1959, and then studied law and theology at the
University of Munich, earning a
doctorate in
1964 with a dissertation on church-state relations in 16th Century Spain.
He held a series of academic posts, teaching fundamental theology, canon law, and ecclesiastical law at the seminary of Mondoñedo, and the University of Munich. In
1976 he was appointed titular Bishop of Gergi and Auxiliary of
Santiago de Compostela. Named archbishop of Santiago de Compostela in
1984, he played a key role in the hosting of the 4th
World Youth Day in
1989. In
1994, he was named
archbishop of Madrid.
Pope John Paul II proclaimed Rouco Varela
Cardinal in the consistory of
21 February 1998; he holds the title of Cardinal Priest of S. Lorenzo in Damaso. He was one of the
cardinal electors who participated in the
2005 papal conclave that selected
Pope Benedict XVI.
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Biography at catholic-pages.com
