Octavio Betancourt Arango (January 4, 1928 – June 18, 2017) was a Colombian Catholic prelate. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the

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 November 23, 1970, until November 10, 1975, and a bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Garzón The Roman Catholic Diocese of Garzón ( la, Garzonensis) is a diocese located in the city of Garzón in the Ecclesiastical province of Ibagué in Colombia. History * 20 May 1900: Established as Diocese of Garzón from the Diocese of Tolima * 2 ...

from November 10, 1975, until April 26, 1977.

Life

He was born on January 4, 1928, in the municipality of

Abejorral Abejorral is a town and municipality in Antioquia Department, Colombia. Part of the subregion of Eastern Antioquia. It borders to the north with the municipalities of Montebello, La Ceja and La Unión, to the east with municipality of Sonsón, ...

, Antioquia, his parents were Vicente Betancourt and María Arango. He studied at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana until he obtained a bachelor's degree in 1945. In 1946 he entered the Medellín Major Seminary and after he was ordained a priest by Monsignor Joaquín García Benítez on 1 November 1951. He was cooperating vicar in Caldas and Titiribí. In August 1953 traveled to Rome to study and obtained the degree of Canon Law in the

Pontifical Lateran University The Pontifical Lateran University ( it, Pontificia Università Lateranense; la, Pontificia Universitas Lateranensis), also known as Lateranum, is a pontifical university based in Rome. The university also hosts the central session of the Pont ...

. He returned to Colombia in late 1956. He was Vice-Chancellor, professor of the Seminary, chaplain of the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament and Chancellor.''Arquidiócesis de Medellín: episcopologio y presbiterio 1868-1988'', Javier Piedrahita Echeverri (Medellín, 1988). In November 1962 he was appointed secretary of the Colombian Episcopate in Bogota, where he returned in July 1966. He was then designated as the spiritual father of the seminary. In May 1968 was appointed Chancellor and in September 1969

Vicar General A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop' ...

. On November 23, 1970, he was appointed titular bishop of Germania in Dacia and an auxiliary bishop of the

. He received the episcopal consecration on February 2, 1971, from the hands of Monsignor Tulio Botero Salazar in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Medellín. On November 10, 1975, he was appointed Bishop of the

, where he remained until April 1977 when he resigned for health reasons. Since July 1977 he has been linked to the Regional Ecclesiastical Court of Medellin.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Betancourt Arango, Octavio 1928 births 2017 deaths People from Antioquia Department 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Colombia Colombian expatriates in Italy Roman Catholic bishops of Garzón Roman Catholic bishops of Medellín