Braulio Rodríguez Plaza (27 January 1944) is a Spanish Catholic prelate, who was Metropolitan Archbishop of Toledo and Primate of Spain from 16 April 2009 to 27 December 2019. A bishop since 1987, he was Metropolitan Archbishop of Valladolid from 2002 to 2009.

Biography

Rodríguez Plaza was born in Aldea del Fresno,

Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities and 50 provinces of Spain, provinces of Spain. It is located at the heart of the Iberian Peninsula and Meseta Central, Central Plateau (); its capital and largest munici ...

, which is now in the diocese of Getafe. He studied in the seminary in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, obtaining a licentiate in

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

at the

Comillas Pontifical University Comillas Pontifical University () is a private Catholic Church, Catholic university run by the Spanish Province of the Society of Jesus in Madrid, Madrid, Spain. The university is involved in a number of academic exchange programmes, work practi ...

. He was ordained a priest on 3 April 1972 and was appointed as pastor of two rural parishes, vice parish priest in San Miguel de Carabanchel and then parish priest in San Fulgencio, a large parish in Madrid. He then became a formator at the major seminary in Madrid. After two years in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, he earned a degree in

Sacred Scripture The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

at the Biblical School. On 6 November 1987,

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 ...

appointed him Bishop of Osma-Soria. He received his episcopal consecration on 20 December 1987 from Archbishop

Mario Tagliaferri Mario Tagliaferri (1 June 1927 – 21 May 1999) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He became an archbishop in 1970 and served as an Apostolic Nuncio from then until his dea ...

. He obtained a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

Biblical Theology Because scholars have tended to use the term in different ways, Biblical theology has been notoriously difficult to define. The academic field of biblical theology is sub-divided into Old Testament theology and New Testament theology. Academic ...

from the Faculty of Burgos. On 12 May 1995 he was transferred to the

Diocese of Salamanca The Diocese of Salamanca () is a Latin Church, Latin diocese of the Catholic Church located in the city of Salamanca in the ecclesiastical province of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Valladolid, Valladolid in Spain.

. On 28 August 2002 he was promoted to Metropolitan Archbishop of Valladolid. He received the

pallium The pallium (derived from the Roman ''pallium'' or ''palla'', a woolen cloak; : pallia) is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the pope, but for many centuries bestowed by the Holy See upon metropolitan bish ...

from

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

on 29 June 2009. On 16 April 2009, Pope Benedict named him Metropolitan Archbishop of Toledo, the oldest diocese in Spain, whose head is accorded the title Primate of Spain. In February 2010, Rodríguez Plaza dismissed a priest in the Toledo diocese as a result of accusations of prostitution. In January 2016, Rodríguez Plaza was misquoted as saying that women who suffered from domestic violence had often been disobedient to their husbands. Discussing the issue further in response to being misquoted, he said that domestic abuse is rooted in the lack of a real marriage, a fact he thought Spanish parties missed when trying to formulate political programs to address the problem of domestic violence.

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

accepted his resignation on 27 December 2019. Within the Spanish Episcopal Conference, he was a member of the Standing Committee.

References

External links

Catholic Hierarchy: Archbishop Braulio Rodríguez Plaza
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez Plaza, Braulio 1944 births Living people People from Cuenca del Alberche 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Spain 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Spain Archbishops of Toledo Roman Catholic primates Archbishops of Valladolid Comillas Pontifical University alumni