Alberto Giraldo Jaramillo PSS (October 7, 1934 – July 21, 2021) was a Colombian

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

, prelate, and member of the

Society of the Priests of Saint Sulpice The Society of Priests of Saint-Sulpice (french: Compagnie des Prêtres de Saint-Sulpice), abbreviated PSS also known as the Sulpicians is a society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men, named after the Church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, ...

. Giraldo served as the first Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Chiquinquirá The Roman Catholic Diocese of Chiquinquirá ( la, Chiquinquirensis) is a diocese located in the city of Chiquinquirá in the Ecclesiastical province of Tunja in Colombia. History *26 April 1977: Established as Diocese of Chiquinquirá from the M ...

from its creation on April 26, 1977, until July 26, 1983, and the Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Cúcuta The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cúcuta ( la, Cucutensis) is a diocese located in the city of Cúcuta in the ecclesiastical province of Nueva Pamplona in Colombia. History *29 May 1956: Established as Diocese of Cúcuta from the Diocese of Nueva P ...

from 1983 to 1990. He was then appointed Archbishop of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Popayán The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Popayán ( la, Popayanensis) is an archdiocese located in the city of Popayán in Colombia.Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Medellín The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Medellín ( la, Medellensis) is an archdiocese located in the city of Medellín in Colombia. Archbishop Ricardo Antonio Tobón Restrepo is the current archbishop of Medellín. History *14 February 1868: Establi ...

from February 1997 until his retirement in February 2010. He was also President of the

Episcopal Conference of Colombia The Episcopal Conference of Colombia is an administrative institution and permanence of the Catholic Church, composed of all the bishops of the dioceses of Colombia in a college, in communion with the Roman Pontiff and under his authority to ex ...

from July 1996 to July 2002. Giraldo was born in

Manizales Manizales () is a city in central Colombia. It is the capital of the Caldas Department, Department of Caldas, and lies near the Nevado del Ruiz volcano. Currently, the city is the main center for the production of Colombian coffee and an importa ...

on October 7, 1934. He was ordained as a Catholic priest on November 9, 1958, and joined the

in 1960. He studied theology at the

University of Montreal A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and received a doctorate in theological studies from the

Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas A pontifical ( la, pontificale) is a Christian liturgical book containing the Christian liturgy, liturgies that only a bishop may perform. Among the liturgies are those of the ordinal (liturgy), ordinal for the ordination and consecration of dea ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Giraldo was archbishop of Medellín from 1997 to 2010 during the height of the

Colombian conflict The Colombian conflict ( es, link=no, Conflicto armado interno de Colombia) began on May 27, 1964, and is a low-intensity asymmetric war between the government of Colombia, far-right paramilitary groups, crime syndicates, and far-left gue ...

. Alirio Uribe Muñoz, a human rights activist and politician, praised Giraldo as "committed 100% to peace and human rights in Medellin and

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

" during the conflict. Alberto Giraldo Jaramillo died at the San Jorge de Pereira Hospital in

Pereira, Colombia Pereira () is the capital city of the Colombian department of Risaralda. It is located in the foothills of the Andes in a coffee-producing area of Colombia officially known as the " Coffee Axis". Pereira, alongside the rest of the Coffee Axis, fo ...

, on July 21, 2021, at the age of 87.

References

1934 births 2021 deaths Sulpician bishops Roman Catholic archbishops of Medellín Roman Catholic archbishops of Popayán Colombian Roman Catholic archbishops Colombian Roman Catholic bishops Université de Montréal alumni Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni People from Manizales {{Colombia-RC-archbishop-stub