Antonio María Rouco Varela

infobox cardinalstyles
cardinal name=Antonio Rouco Varela
dipstyle=His Eminence
offstyle=Your Eminence
relstyle=Cardinal
See=Madrid|

Antonio María Rouco Varela (born August 24, 1936) is a Spanish prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as Archbishop of Madrid, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1998.

Biography

Antonio Rouco Varela was born in Villalba 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 March 28, 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 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. Five years later, in 1994, he was named Archbishop of Madrid.

Pope John Paul II created and proclaimed Rouco Varela as a cardinal in the consistory of 21 February 1998, with 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.

External links

* [http://www.catholic-pages.com/hierarchy/cardinals_bio.asp?ref=128 Biography at catholic-pages.com]