Cristián Enrique Contreras Molina (born 8 November 1946) is a native of Chile and a former bishop 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 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He was Bishop of San Felipe from 2002 to 2018.

Biography

He was born on 8 November 1946 in

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's Chilean Central Valley, central valley and is the center ...

. He entered the novitiate of the

Mercedarians The Royal, Celestial and Military Order of Our Lady of Mercy and the Redemption of the Captives (, abbreviated O. de M.), also known as the Mercedarians, is a Catholic mendicant order established in 1218 by Peter Nolasco in the city of Barcelo ...

in 1961 and studied philosophy and theology with them and in the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in Religious Studies in 1974. He took his perpetual vows on 21 September 1973 and he was ordained a priest on 12 October 1974 by Archbishop

Sotero Sanz Villalba Sotero Sanz Villalba (22 April 1919 – 17 January 1978) was a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. Biography Sotero Sanz Villalba was born on 22 April 1919 in El Buste, Aragon, Spain. He st ...

, Apostolic Nuncio to Chile. After ordination he worked in various parishes in Valdivia (1975), Calama (1976-1983), and San Felipe (1985). He was appointed Superior and Rector of the College of the Mercedarians in Santiago (1985-1989). In 1990 he was named Major Chaplain of the Gendarmerie and Chaplain of the National Prisons. On 11 June 1992,

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 ...

named him Prelate of Calama and he received his episcopal consecration on 5 July from Cardinal

Carlos Oviedo Cavada Carlos Oviedo Cavada, O. de M. (19 January 1927 – 7 December 1998) was a Chilean Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Santiago de Chile from 1990 to 1998, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1994. Biography Ca ...

. He was installed on 19 July. On 19 July 2002, John Paul appointed him Bishop of San Felipe and he was installed there on 25 August. On 18 May 2018, Contreras submitted his resignation to Pope Francis, as did all the Chilean bishops at the conclusion of a three-day meeting in Rome. In early September prosecutors launched an investigation based on an accusation of a sexual crime made against Contreras.

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 21 September 2018, replacing him with a priest as Apostolic Administrator, Jaime Ortiz de Lazcano Piquer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Contreras Molina, Cristián Living people 1946 births 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Chile Roman Catholic bishops of San Juan de Calama

Biography

See also

References