Toribio Ticona Porco (; born 25 April 1937) is a Bolivian

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 'pref ...

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 ...

. He was Prelate of the

Territorial Prelature of Corocoro The Territorial Prelature of Corocoro ( la, Praelatura Territorialis Corocorensis) is a territorial prelature located in the city of Coro Coro in the Ecclesiastical province of La Paz in Bolivia. History * December 25, 1949: Established as Ter ...

from 1992 to 2012 after serving as Auxiliary Bishop of

Potosí Potosí, known as Villa Imperial de Potosí in the colonial period, is the capital city and a municipality of the Department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the highest cities in the world at a nominal . For centuries, it was the location o ...

from 1986 to 1992.

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. ...

made him a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

on 28 June 2018. Of Quechuan origin, he was the first Latin American cardinal from one of the continent's indigenous ethnic groups.

Biography

Toribio Ticona Porco was born in Atocha in the

Potosi Department Potosí or Potosi may refer to: Places United States * Potosi, Missouri, in Washington County * Potosi, Nevada, a ghost town in Clark County, Nevada * Potosi, Texas, in Taylor County * Potosi (town), Wisconsin, in Grant County ** Potosi, ...

of Bolivia, on 25 April 1937. He was raised by his mother and never knew his father. He worked shining shoes and selling newspaper, was a bricklayer's assistant and an auto mechanic and worked in a brewery. He became a Catholic under the influence of Belgian missionaries. He first worked for the missionaries as a bell ringer and secretary in Atocha. He began his preparation for the priesthood in 1962 at a center for late vocations in Chile, but returned to Bolivia after only two months. At the Belgians' insistence he studied philosophy and theology for four years at the seminary in

Sucre Sucre () is the Capital city, capital of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the List of cities in Bolivia, 6th most populated city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . T ...

. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Potosí on 29 January 1967. He did further studies at the Pastoral Institute of CELAM and at the Center ''Lumen Vitae'' in Brussels. While a priest in Chacarilla, a mining town of 2,000 people, he was mayor for 14 years. On 5 April 1986,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

appointed him titular bishop of Timici and auxiliary bishop of

, and he was consecrated a bishop on 31 May 1986 by Archbishop

Santos Abril y Castelló Santos Abril y Castelló (born 21 September 1936) is a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church. After a career in the diplomatic corps of the Holy See, he held a number of positions in the Roman Curia and from 2011 to 2016 was Archpriest of the ...

, apostolic nuncio to Bolivia. As an auxiliary bishop, he worked in the mining region of northern Potosí, based in the town of

Uncía Uncía is a town located in the Potosí Department Potosí (; Aymara: ''Putusi''; qu, P'utuqsi) is a department in southwestern Bolivia. It comprises 118,218 km2 with 823,517 inhabitants (2012 census). The capital is the city of Potos� ...

Chayanta Province Chayanta is a province in the northern parts of the Bolivian Potosí Department. Its capital is Colquechaca. Location Chayanta province is one of sixteen provinces in the Potosí Department. It is located between 18° 23' and 19° 6' South and ...

. On 4 June 1992, John Paul appointed him Prelate of the

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

accepted his resignation on 29 June 2012. On 20 May 2018

announced he would make Ticona a

on 28 June. Ticona learned of the surprise appointment while visiting his mother's grave near

Quillacollo Quillacollo is the capital of Quillacollo Province in Cochabamba Department, Bolivia. The municipality was established on 14 September 1905 under the Presidency of Ismail Montes. Population and growth The city of Quillacollo is located westward ...

. At the 28 June consistory, he was assigned the titular church of

Santi Gioacchino ed Anna al Tuscolano Santi Gioacchino ed Anna al Tuscolano is a church in Rome. The church is dedicated to Saints Joachim and Anne, parents of the Virgin Mary. On 28 June 1988, this church was erected as a cardinal's title. The first two cardinal priests to hold t ...

. Bolivian President

Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to co ...

attended the ceremony and said he witnessed the creation of "our first indigenous cardinal and worker" with "profound happiness and joy".

References

;Additional sources *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ticona Porco, Toribio 1937 births Living people Bolivian people of Quechua descent 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Bolivia 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Bolivia Bolivian cardinals Cardinals created by Pope Francis Mayors of places in Bolivia People from Sud Chichas Province Roman Catholic bishops of Potosí Roman Catholic bishops of Corocoro

Biography

See also

References

External links