His Eminence Antonio Rouco Varela |
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Cardinal, Archbishop emeritus of Madrid | |
Antonio María Rouco Varela during Palm Sunday celebrations in Madrid in 2014
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Archdiocese | Madrid |
Appointed | 28 July 1994 |
Term ended | 28 August 2014 |
Predecessor | Angel Suquía Goicoechea |
Successor | Carlos Osoro Sierra |
Other posts |
Cardinal-Priest of San Lorenzo in Damaso President of the Spanish Episcopal Conference |
Orders | |
Ordination | 28 March 1959 by Angel Suquía Goicoechea |
Consecration | 31 October 1976 by Maximino Romero de Lema |
Created Cardinal | 21 February 1998 |
Rank | Cardinal Priest |
Personal details | |
Birth name | Antonio María Rouco Varela |
Born |
Vilalba, Galicia, Spanish Republic |
20 August 1936
Nationality | Spanish |
Denomination | Roman Catholicism |
Parents |
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Previous post |
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Motto | In ecclesiae communione |
Coat of arms |
Styles of Antonio Rouco Varela |
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Reference style | His Eminence |
Spoken style | Your Eminence |
Informal style | Cardinal |
See | Madrid |
Antonio María Rouco Varela (born 20 August 1936) is a Spanish prelate of the Roman Catholic Church and a prominent member of its conservative wing. He served as Archbishop of Madrid from 1994 to 2014. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1998.
Antonio Rouco Varela was born in Vilalba to Vicente Rouco and María Eugenia Varela, the latter of whom hailed from Bahía Blanca, Argentina. He has four siblings: Visitación, Jose, Manuel, and Eugenia. He studied at the seminary in Mondoñedo and at the Pontifical University of Salamanca (1954–1958), from where he obtained his licentiate in theology. Rouco was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Francisco Barbado y Viejo, OP, on 28 March 1959.
He then furthered his studies at the University of Munich, earning a doctorate in canon law 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 Bishop of the Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela by Pope Paul VI. Named Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela in 1984 by Pope John Paul II, he played a key role in the hosting of the 4th World Youth Day in 1989. Five years later, in 1994, he was named Archbishop of Madrid by Pope John Paul II.