Gustavo Martínez Frías (May 30, 1935 – August 29, 2009) was the Archbishop of Nueva Pamplona,

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. Martínez Frías was appointed Archbishop of Nueva Pamplona by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

on March 18, 1999 and installed on May 6, 1999. He remained archbishop until his death on August 29, 2009, at the age of 74. Gustavo Martínez Frías was born in

Bucaramanga, Colombia Bucaramanga () is the capital and largest city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth-largest economy by GDP in Colombia, has the lowest unemployment rate and is the ninth most populous city in the country, with a ...

, on May 30, 1935. He was ordained a

Catholic priest 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 common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

for the diocese of Socorro y San Gil on November 27, 1960. Martínez Frías served as the bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Ipiales The Diocese of Ipiales () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Southern Colombia. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisd ...

from 1987 until 1999, prior to becoming the Archbishop of Nueva Pamplona. His family was from Province of Santander, San Vicente de Chucuri (his grand father died during

La Violencia ''La Violencia'' (, The Violence) was a ten-year civil war in Colombia from 1948 to 1958, between the Colombian Conservative Party and the Colombian Liberal Party, mainly fought in the countryside. ''La Violencia'' is considered to have begu ...

), his father was don Gustavo Martínez (a blacksmith) and his mother Guillermina Frías (owner of a small store in the main plaza of San Vicente). He was the eldest brother of Alix, Leonor, Hernán, Eduardo and Leonardo (1957–1997) who lived and studied in Paris (1976-1990) and in Rome (1992-1995).

References

Catholic Hierarchy: Archbishop Gustavo Martínez Frías †

External links

1935 births 2009 deaths 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Colombia 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Colombia Roman Catholic archbishops of Nueva Pamplona Roman Catholic bishops of Ipiales {{Colombia-RC-archbishop-stub