Jorge María Mejía (31 January 1923 – 9 December 2014) was an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

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 ...

(

Roman Rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs Rite (Christianity) ...

Early life and ordination

Mejía was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and ordained to the priesthood for the Metropolitan See of Buenos Aires on 22 September 1945. He taught Sacred Scripture at several

universities A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, participated at the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

as a peritus and was made a

Chaplain of His Holiness Chaplain of His Holiness is a title of distinction given by the Pope in recognition of a priest's service to the Church. They are addressed with the honorific of "Monsignor" and have certain privileges with respect to ecclesiastical dress and ve ...

on 20 September 1978. He held 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 ...

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 ...

from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) and a

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in biblical science from the Pontifical Biblical Institute.

Bishop

On 8 March 1986, Mejía was appointed as

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 '' Apollonia'' and an official of the Curial Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. His episcopal consecration took place on 12 April 1986 and was performed by Cardinal Roger Etchegaray with Archbishop Eduardo Martínez Somalo and Bishop Antonio María Javierre Ortas as co-consecrators. On 5 March 1994, Mejía was named Secretary of the Congregation for Bishops and raised to the rank of Archbishop. Five days later, on 10 March 1994, he was appointed Secretary of the

College of Cardinals The College of Cardinals (), also called the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. there are cardinals, of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Appointed by the pope, ...

. On 7 March 1998, he became both the archivist and the librarian of the Vatican Secret Archives.

Cardinal

On 21 February 2001 Mejía was appointed as Cardinal-Deacon of '' San Girolamo della Carità'' by

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 ...

in the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistor ...

. On 24 November 2003, he retired as archivist and librarian of the Vatican Secret Archives. On 21 February 2011 he opted for the order of Cardinal Priest with his former diaconal church elevated to the level of cardinalitial title. Mejía was 82 at the time of the 2005 papal conclave that elected

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 ...

and thus was not eligible to vote. In January 2010 Mejía led the delegation from the Holy See's Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews meeting for the Commission for Dialogue between Jews and Catholics, the ninth such meeting. From 2013 until his death the following year he sat on the Board of World Religious Leaders for the interfaith dialogue-based organization, the Elijah Interfaith Institute. On 13 March 2013 Mejía suffered a heart attack on the same day his fellow Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as

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 ...

, the 266th

pontiff In Roman antiquity, a pontiff () was a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term ''pontiff'' was later applied to any h ...

of the Catholic Church. Mejía died in Rome on 9 December 2014 after battling stomach cancer, at the age of 91.

References

External links

Catholic HierarchyThe Elijah Interfaith Institute - Christian Members of the Board of World Religious Leaders
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mejia, Jorge Maria 1923 births 2014 deaths Argentine cardinals Roman Catholic titular archbishops Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II Clergy from Buenos Aires Members of the Congregation for Bishops Academic staff of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina Pontifical Biblical Institute alumni Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni Participants in the Second Vatican Council People associated with the Vatican Library Argentine expatriates in Italy Argentine librarians Argentine archivists Vatican City people 20th-century Argentine people 21st-century Argentine people