Carlos Alfonso Azpiroz Costa, O.P., J.C.D. (born 30 October 1956) is an Argentinian

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ...

of the Order of Preachers, better known as the Dominicans, who serves as a

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Master of the Order
from the website of the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of ...

Life

Early life

Azpiroz was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

in 1956, the eighth of the 14 children (thirteen boys, one girl) born to Francisco Azpiroz Gil (died 1988) and Nélida Victoria Costa Colombo (died 1976). His father was an agricultural engineer who oversaw the large family holdings. His father's parents were immigrants from the Navarre region of Spain, while his maternal grandparents had come from Italy. As a child, Azpiroz was enrolled at the Colegio Champagnat de Buenos Aires, run by the

Marist Brothers The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic religious institute of brothers. In 1817, St. Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from France, founded the Marist Brothe ...

, where he completed both his elementary education and his secondary, graduating in 1974. He then entered the law school of the

Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina A pontifical ( la, pontificale) is a Christian liturgical book containing the liturgies that only a bishop may perform. Among the liturgies are those of the ordinal for the ordination and consecration of deacons, priests, and bishops to Holy ...

(UCA). After several years of study, he began to feel a certain restlessness about his future. In 1978 he met two professors at the university who were Dominican friars who taught

moral theology Ethics involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior.''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''"Ethics"/ref> A central aspect of ethics is "the good life", the life worth living or life that is simply sati ...

at the law school. Through discussions with them and visits to their houses, he felt called to join their Order.

Dominican friar

On 1 March 1980, Azpiroz was admitted to the novitiate of the Dominican

Province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

located at the Priory of St.

Martin de Porres Martín de Porres Velázquez (9 December 1579 – 3 November 1639) was a Peruvian lay brother of the Dominican Order who was beatified in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI and canonized in 1962 by Pope John XXIII. He is the patron saint of mixed-r ...

, in Mar del Plata. After completing this initial stage of his formation in the Order, he professed temporary religious vows as a friar on 28 February 1981. During this period, he was permitted to take one final exam at the university, by which he earned his law degree from UCA, after which he went on to do his philosophy studies at the . On 10 March 1984, he professed

solemn vows A solemn vow is a certain vow ("a deliberate and free promise made to God about a possible and better good") taken by an individual during or after novitiate in a Catholic religious institute. It is solemn insofar as the Church recognizes it a ...

as a full member of the Order in that same priory. Azpiroz soon received his degree of

Bachelor of Philosophy Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil, BPh, or PhB; la, Baccalaureus Philosophiae or ) is the title of an academic degree that usually involves considerable research, either through a thesis or supervised research projects. Unlike many other bachelor's d ...

from

Saint Thomas Aquinas University of the North The Universidad del Norte de Santo Tomás de Aquino (''Saint Thomas Aquinas North University'', UNSTA) is a Catholic university located in San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán province, Argentina. External links * Official website Catholic univ ...

(UNSTA), a private university operated by the Dominican

of Argentina for its young friars. He began his theological studies at the Center of Institutional Studies, which operated at the Priory of St. Dominic of Buenos Aires, under the auspices of the theology faculty of the Pontifical Catholic University, at which he earned the degree of

Bachelor of Theology The Bachelor of Theology degree (BTh, ThB, or BTheol) is a three- to five-year undergraduate degree in theological disciplines and is typically pursued by those seeking ordination for ministry in a church, denomination, or parachurch organization. ...

. At the same time, he began his university teaching career, both as assistant of the chairs of theological

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

and

dogmatic theology Dogmatic theology, also called dogmatics, is the part of theology dealing with the theoretical truths of faith concerning God and God's works, especially the official theology recognized by an organized Church body, such as the Roman Catholic Ch ...

, at the UCA (in the faculties of economics and law), and also as an assistant professor in the philosophy department of UNSTA. During this period, he shared in the work of his community in reaching out to the people surrounding the priory. Azpiroz was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

on 8 August 1986 by Cardinal

Eduardo Francisco Pironio Eduardo Francisco Pironio (3 December 1920 – 5 February 1998) was an Argentine Roman Catholic cardinal who served in numerous departments of the Roman Curia from 1975 to 1996. He was named Cardinal-Bishop of Sabina-Poggio in 1995. On 30 Ju ...

. He was later ordained by Pironio to the

Catholic priesthood The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned (" ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers onl ...

on 14 August 1987. In September 1989, the

Prior Provincial Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...

sent him to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

to study

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (better known as the Angelicum) in

, where he was assigned to live at Santa Sabina Priory, the international studium of the Dominican Order. He also fulfilled various offices of the Order while pursuing his studies. In 1997 he was appointed the Procurator General of the Dominican Order, as well as

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the

Basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...

Santa Sabina The Basilica of Saint Sabina ( la, Basilica Sanctae Sabinae, it, Basilica di Santa Sabina all'Aventino) is a historic church on the Aventine Hill in Rome, Italy. It is a titular minor basilica and mother church of the Roman Catholic Order of Pre ...

, attached to the Dominican priory, by then Master of the Order of Preachers,

Timothy Radcliffe Timothy Peter Joseph Radcliffe, OP (born 22 August 1945) is an English Roman Catholic priest and Dominican friar who served as master of the Order of Preachers from 1992 to 2001. He is the only member of the English Province to hold that off ...

. On 14 July 2001, the participants in the

General Chapter A chapter ( la, capitulum or ') is one of several bodies of clergy in Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, Anglican, and Nordic Lutheran churches or their gatherings. Name The name derives from the habit of convening monks or canons for the re ...

of the Order, which was held in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

, in the United States, elected Azpiroz to succeed Radcliffe as Master of the Order. During his tenure as Master, he was ''ex officio'' Grand Chancellor of the Angelicum. In January 2008, at the General Chapter of the Order held in Bogotá, Azpiroz commented on his experiences in his role as Master of the Order: Azpiroz served in this office for a nine-year term, ending with the election of his successor on 5 September 2010. Massimiliano Pironti painted Azpiroz' official portrait in oil as former Master of the

. The portrait hangs in the Dominican Museum in

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 ...

Bishop

On 3 November 2015,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

appointed Azpiroz the Archbishop coadjutor of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bahia Blanca. He was ordained a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

on the following 22 December by

Guillermo José Garlatti Guillermo José Garlatti is an Argentine prelate of the Catholic Church was the archbishop of Bahía Blanca from 2004 to 2017. He has been a bishop since 1994. Biography He was born in Forgaria nel Fiurle, Udine, Northern Italy on July 12, 1940. ...

, the Archbishop of Bahía Blanca, under whom he served until succeeding him as Archbishop on 12 July 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azpiroz Costa, Carlos Alfonso 1956 births Living people Argentine people of Spanish descent Argentine people of Basque descent People from Buenos Aires Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina alumni Members of the Dominican Order Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina faculty Masters of the Order of Preachers Dominican bishops 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Argentina Roman Catholic archbishops of Bahía Blanca