Cristóbal López Romero (born 19 May 1952) is a Spanish-born prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

who has served as the Archbishop of Rabat since March 2018. He is a member of the

Salesians , image = File:Stemma big.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , abbreviation = SDB , formation = , founder = John Bosco , founding_location = Valdocco, Turi ...

and before becoming a bishop devoted himself to pastoral work in Latin America while taking on administrative responsibilities within his order. Pope Francis raised him to the rank of

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 5 October 2019.

Biography

Cristóbal López Romero was born on 19 May 1952 in

Vélez-Rubio Vélez-Rubio () is a municipality in the province of Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. History There have been people living the region for 30,000 years. The present location is from the 15th-16th centuries, when Mori ...

, Spain. He joined the Salesians in 1964 and studied at the Salesian Seminaries of Gerona and Barcelona, studying philosophy from 1973 to 1975 and theology from 1975 to 1979. He earned a licenciate in Information Sciences, Journalism section, at the

Autonomous University of Barcelona The Autonomous University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; , es, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona; UAB), is a public university mostly located in Cerdanyola del Vallès, near the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. ...

in 1982. He took his first vows as a Salesian on 16 August 1968 and made his solemn profession on 2 August 1974. He was ordained a priest on 19 May 1979. His career has combined pastoral ministries with administrative positions within his order, mostly in Paraguay. From 1979 to 1984 he was minister for the marginalized in the La Verneda area of Barcelona; from 1984 to 1986 Youth Minister at the Salesian College of Asunción, Paraguay; from 1986 to 1992 Provincial Delegate for vocational youth ministry in Asunción; from 1992 to 1994 a parish priest in Asunción; from 2000 to 2002 head of the Salesian community and teacher in the College of Asunción; from 2002 to 2003 a minister in the missions in Paraguay. He moved to Morocco in 2003, where he was Director of the Salesian community, of parish and scholastic pastoral care in the vocational training center in

Kénitra Kenitra ( ar, القُنَيْطَرَة, , , ; ber, ⵇⵏⵉⵟⵔⴰ, Qniṭra; french: Kénitra) is a city in north western Morocco, formerly known as Port Lyautey from 1932 to 1956. It is a port on the Sebou river, has a population in 2 ...

. Within his order, he was Director of the Salesian Bulletin in Asunción from 1991 to 1992. He was Provincial of the Salesian Province of Paraguay from 1994 to 2000; he headed the Salesian Province of Bolivia from 2011 to 2014; since then he has led the Salesian Province of María Auxiliadora in Spain. On 29 December 2017, Pope Francis named him Archbishop of Rabat. He received his episcopal consecration on 10 March 2018 from Cardinal

Juan José Omella born 21 April 1946) is a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church. He has been the Archbishop of Barcelona since the end of 2015, a cardinal since 28 June 2017, and president of the Episcopal Conference of Spain since 3 March 2020. Biography Omell ...

, Archbishop of Barcelona. Anticipating the visit of Pope Francis to Morocco in the spring of 2019, he described the Church in Morocco as "vibrant" and "young": "More young than old people come to our churches, more men than women, more black than white people." He emphasized its international character, caring for migrants from countries south of the Sahara with Church personnel drawn from more than forty countries. On 24 May 2019, Pope Francis named him

Apostolic Administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic adm ...

of the Archdiocese of Tangier. On 5 October 2019, Pope Francis made him

Cardinal Priest A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

of San Leone I. He was made a member of the

Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue The Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, previously named Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID), is a dicastery of the Roman Curia, erected by Pope Paul VI on 19 May 1964 as the Secretariat for Non-Christians, and renamed by Pope ...

on 21 February 2020.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez Romero, Cristobal Living people 1952 births People from Almería Salesian bishops Salesian cardinals 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Morocco Cardinals created by Pope Francis 21st-century Spanish cardinals Moroccan cardinals Roman Catholic archbishops of Rabat Moroccan Roman Catholic archbishops

Biography

See also

References

External links