Robert Fortune Sanchez

The Most Reverend Robert F. Sanchez
Archbishop of Santa Fe
Church	Roman Catholic Church
See	Santa Fe
In office	July 1, 1974 – April 6, 1993
Predecessor	James Peter Davis
Successor	Michael J. Sheehan
Orders
Ordination	December 20, 1959
Consecration	July 25, 1974
Personal details
Born	March 20, 1934 Socorro, New Mexico
Died	January 20, 2012 Albuquerque, New Mexico
Previous post	San Felipe de Neri Parish

Robert Fortune Sanchez (20 March 1934 – 20 January 2012) was the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the United States.

Born in Socorro, New Mexico, he was the son of Julius Caesar Sanchez and Priscilla Fortune, whose ancestors included the first Spanish colonists in the region, then part of New Spain. As a teenager Sanchez felt a religious calling to the Catholic priesthood and entered the Immaculate Heart Seminary of the Archdiocese to this end, completing his college studies at St. Michael's College, now the Santa Fe University of Art and Design. Showing great promise, he was sent to study theology at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. At the completion of these studies, he was ordained to the priesthood there for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe on 20 December 1959, by the Rector of the College, Archbishop Martin John O'Connor.

After his ordination, Sanchez returned to New Mexico. He was then assigned by Archbishop Edwin Byrne to a parish in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He also served in several positions in a local Catholic high school, for which he earned a teaching certificate from the University of New Mexico in 1964. Sanchez earned a degree in canon law as well from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He went on to serve in various positions of leadership in the Archdiocese, including that of Vicar General.