Joaquín Mariano Sucunza (15 February 1946) is an Argentine

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Roman 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 has been

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

since 2000.

Life

Born in

Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...

, Spain, to a family of shepherds based in

Lecumberri The Palacio de Lecumberri is a large building, formerly a prison, in the northeast of Mexico City, Mexico, which now houses the General National Archive (''Archivo General de la Nación''). Known in popular culture as ''The Black Palace of Lecum ...

in the

Navarra Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

region on 15 February 1946, Sucunza moved with his family to Argentina, arriving on 11 December 1948. He completed all his studies for the priesthood at the Buenos Aires seminary. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood on 27 November 1971. He fulfilled a series parish assignments over the next three decades and was named episcopal vicar for the central zone of Buenos Aires in 1998. On 22 July 2000,

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

and

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Saetabis. Sucunza received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

on the following 21 October from

Jorge Mario Bergoglio 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 his death in 2025. He was the first Jesuit pope, the first Latin A ...

, Archbishop of Buenos Aires (later

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 ...

), with

Mario José Serra Mario José Serra (March 12, 1926 – July 9, 2005) was a prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires from 1975 till 2002. Life Born in Buenos Aires, Serra was ordained to the priesthood on December 4, 1949. On ...

, Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires, and

Guillermo Leaden Guillermo Leaden, S.D.B. (July 20, 1913 – July 14, 2014) was an Argentine bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. At the age of 100, he was one of the oldest bishops in the Church and the oldest Argentine bishop. Life Leaden was born in Buenos Air ...

, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus, serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

. Bergoglio gave him increasing responsibility, naming him

moderator of the curia Moderator of the curia is a top administrative position held by a Catholic priest in a diocese under the supervision of the bishop. The moderator coordinates the exercise of the administrative duties and oversees the office holders, or curia, in ...

on 12 December 2000,

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

on 27 April 2002, and episcopal vicar for economic affairs on 3 June 2008. He serves as head of the Economic Affairs Council of the Episcopal Conference of Argentina from 2017 to 2020. He was vicar general of the Archdiocese when Archbishop Bergoglio was elected to the papacy, and the administrators of the archdiocese chose him to head the Archdiocese until Bergoglio named a successor. Sucunza reported that Pope Francis called him the day after his election and they spoke for 45 minutes. He quoted Francis as saying of the papal election: "When I saw that the number was already irreversible as the votes were counted, I imagined I was dying, ... a very rare thing, inside of me. When that brief moment passed, I felt different. I do not know what happened to me, but I felt different." In addition to participating with the other Argentine bishops in ''ad limina'' visits with the pope, he had a personal visit with

on 22 November 2018.

References

External links

* catholic-hierarchy.org
Bishop Joaquín Mariano Sucunza
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sucunza, Joaquin Mariano 1946 births 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Argentina Living people Roman Catholic bishops of Buenos Aires