Francisco Robles Ortega
Encyclopedia
Francisco Robles Ortega (born 2 March 1949) is a Mexican
Cardinal
of the Roman Catholic Church
, having been elevated to the cardinalate
in 2007. He currently serves as Archbishop of Monterrey, having previously served as Bishop of Toluca
from 1996 to 2003.
, as the third of the sixteen children of Francisco Robles Arreola (b. 1917) and Teresa Ortega de Robles (b. 1927). He studied humanities
at the minor seminary
in Autlán
, philosophy
at the seminary
in Guadalajara
, and theology
at the seminary in Zamora
.
Robles Ortega was ordained
to the priesthood
by Bishop José Vásquez Silos on 20 July 1976, and then studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University
in Rome
until 1979, obtaining his licentiate in theology
. Upon his return to Mexico, he served as vicar general
of Autlán and taught philosophy and theology at its seminary. He was made diocesan
administrator
of Autlán following the death of Bishop Vásquez Silos in July 1990
of Toluca
and Titular Bishop
of Bossa by Pope John Paul II
. He received his episcopal consecration
on the following 5 June from Bishop Alfredo Torres Romero, with Bishops José Hernández González and Javier Lozano Barragán serving as co-consecrators
, in the Cathedral
of Toluca.
Robles Ortega was later named diocesan administrator of Toluca following the death of Bishop Torres Romero on 15 October 1995. He finally became Bishop of Toluca
on 15 June 1996, and was installed on 15 July of that same year. On 25 January 2003, he was advanced to Archbishop of Monterrey.
created him Cardinal-Priest
of S. Maria della Presentazione in the consistory
of 24 November 2007, he took possession of the titular church on 25 October 2008 http://212.77.1.245/news_services/bulletin/news/22771.php?index=22771&lang=en. Cardinal Robles Ortega will be eligible to participate in any future papal conclave
s until he reaches the age of eighty on 2 March 2029 unless he dies before.
On 5 January 2011 he was appointed among the first members of the newly created Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation
.
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
Cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, having been elevated to the cardinalate
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
in 2007. He currently serves as Archbishop of Monterrey, having previously served as Bishop of Toluca
Roman Catholic Diocese of Toluca
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Toluca is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of México. Along with the Dioceses of Acapulco, Chilapa and Tacámbaro, it lost territory when the Diocese of Ciudad Altamirano was erected in 1964. It further lost territory in 1984 with the formation of the Diocese of...
from 1996 to 2003.
Early life and ordination
Francisco Robles Ortega was born in MascotaMascota
Mascota is a town and municipality, in Jalisco in central-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 1,591.63 km².As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 14,045....
, as the third of the sixteen children of Francisco Robles Arreola (b. 1917) and Teresa Ortega de Robles (b. 1927). He studied humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
at the minor seminary
Minor seminary
A minor seminary is a secondary boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming priests. They are generally Roman Catholic institutions, and designed to prepare boys both academically and spiritually for vocations to the priesthood...
in Autlán
Autlán, Jalisco
Autlán de Navarro is a city and its surrounding municipality of the same name in the Costa Sur region of the southwestern part of the state of Jalisco in Mexico. At the Mexican census of 2005, the city had a population of 53,269 inhabitants. The municipality has a surface area of 962.9 km²...
, philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at the seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
in Guadalajara
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
, and theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
at the seminary in Zamora
Zamora, Spain
Zamora is a city in Castile and León, Spain, the capital of the province of Zamora. It lies on a rocky hill in the northwest, near the frontier with Portugal and crossed by the Duero river, which is some 50 km downstream as it reaches the Portuguese frontier...
.
Robles Ortega was ordained
Holy Orders
The term Holy Orders is used by many Christian churches to refer to ordination or to those individuals ordained for a special role or ministry....
to the priesthood
Priesthood (Catholic Church)
The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church include the orders of bishops, deacons and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos. The ordained priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....
by Bishop José Vásquez Silos on 20 July 1976, and then studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University
Pontifical Gregorian University
The Pontifical Gregorian University is a pontifical university located in Rome, Italy.Heir of the Roman College founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola over 460 years ago, the Gregorian University was the first university founded by the Jesuits...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
until 1979, obtaining his licentiate in theology
Licentiate of Sacred Theology
Licentiate of Sacred Theology is the title of the second cycle of studies of a Faculty of Theology offered by a pontifical universities or ecclesiastical faculties of sacred theology. An Ecclesiastical Faculty offers three cycles of study: Baccalaureate or fundamentals, Licentiate or specialized,...
. Upon his return to Mexico, he served as vicar general
Vicar general
A vicar general is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ordinary executive power over the entire diocese and, thus, is the highest official in a diocese or other particular...
of Autlán and taught philosophy and theology at its seminary. He was made diocesan
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
administrator
Apostolic Administrator
An apostolic administrator in the Roman Catholic Church is a prelate appointed by the Pope to serve as the ordinary for an apostolic administration...
of Autlán following the death of Bishop Vásquez Silos in July 1990
Bishop
On 30 April 1991, Robles Ortega was appointed Auxiliary BishopAuxiliary bishop
An auxiliary bishop, in the Roman Catholic Church, is an additional bishop assigned to a diocese because the diocesan bishop is unable to perform his functions, the diocese is so extensive that it requires more than one bishop to administer, or the diocese is attached to a royal or imperial office...
of Toluca
Toluca
Toluca, formally known as Toluca de Lerdo, is the state capital of Mexico State as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. It is the center of a rapidly growing urban area, now the fifth largest in Mexico. It is located west-southwest of Mexico City and only about 40 minutes by car to the...
and Titular Bishop
Titular bishop
A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese.By definition a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop the tradition of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches is that he be ordained for a specific place...
of Bossa by Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
. He received his episcopal consecration
Bishop (Catholic Church)
In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders and is responsible for teaching the Catholic faith and ruling the Church....
on the following 5 June from Bishop Alfredo Torres Romero, with Bishops José Hernández González and Javier Lozano Barragán serving as co-consecrators
Consecrator
Consecrator is a term used in the Roman Catholic Church to designate a bishop who ordains a priest to the episcopal state. The term is often used in Eastern Rite Churches and in Anglican communities. The term "Principal Consecrator" is used to designate the primary bishop who ordains a new bishop...
, in the Cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
of Toluca.
Robles Ortega was later named diocesan administrator of Toluca following the death of Bishop Torres Romero on 15 October 1995. He finally became Bishop of Toluca
Roman Catholic Diocese of Toluca
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Toluca is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of México. Along with the Dioceses of Acapulco, Chilapa and Tacámbaro, it lost territory when the Diocese of Ciudad Altamirano was erected in 1964. It further lost territory in 1984 with the formation of the Diocese of...
on 15 June 1996, and was installed on 15 July of that same year. On 25 January 2003, he was advanced to Archbishop of Monterrey.
Cardinal
Pope Benedict XVIPope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
created him Cardinal-Priest
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
of S. Maria della Presentazione in the consistory
Consistory
-Antiquity:Originally, the Latin word consistorium meant simply 'sitting together', just as the Greek synedrion ....
of 24 November 2007, he took possession of the titular church on 25 October 2008 http://212.77.1.245/news_services/bulletin/news/22771.php?index=22771&lang=en. Cardinal Robles Ortega will be eligible to participate in any future papal conclave
Papal conclave
A papal conclave is a meeting of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a Bishop of Rome, who then becomes the Pope during a period of vacancy in the papal office. The Pope is considered by Roman Catholics to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and earthly head of the Roman Catholic Church...
s until he reaches the age of eighty on 2 March 2029 unless he dies before.
On 5 January 2011 he was appointed among the first members of the newly created Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation
Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation
The Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization is a dicastery of the Roman Curia whose creation was announced by Pope Benedict XVI at vespers on 28 June 2010, eve of the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul...
.