Jorge Arturo Agustín Medina Estévez (; 23 December 1926 – 3 October 2021) was a Chilean 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 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

who held senior positions both in his native country and in the

Roman Curia The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use ...

. He was prefect of the

Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments () is the dicastery (from , from δικαστής, 'judge, juror') of the Roman Curia that handles most affairs relating to liturgical practices of the Latin Church as distin ...

from 1996 to 2002 and was made a

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 ...

in 1998. Beginning in 1985 he served as auxiliary bishop and then from 1987 bishop of Rancagua and then bishop of

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

from 1993 to 1996. As Cardinal Protodeacon, the longest serving cardinal of the order of cardinal deacons, he announced the election of

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 ...

to the world on 19 April 2005.

Early life and ordination

Medina was born in

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

in 1926, and studied at the

Pontifical Catholic University of Chile The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (UC Chile; ) is a traditional private university based in Santiago, Chile. It is one of the thirteen Catholic universities existing in Chilean university system and one of the two pontifical univ ...

, where he received a bachelor's degree in the arts and biology, and the Major Seminary of Santiago. He was ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

on 12 June 1954 by Bishop Pio Fariña Fariña, the

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 ...

and an

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. ...

of Santiago.

Church scholar

Earning 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 ...

in 1955, Medina taught

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and theology at the Major Seminary of Santiago and of the Pontifical Catholic University, respectively until 1965. He also served as a dean of the university, and as a peritus 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 ...

; for the latter he later received an ''honoris causa'' doctorate from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

in 1996.

Bishop

Pro-Grand Chancellor of the Catholic University from 1974 to 1985, he was named

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 Thibilis and

of Rancagua on 18 December 1984. Medina was consecrated to the episcopate on 6 January 1985, 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 ...

, with Cardinals Eduardo Martínez Somalo and Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy acting as co-consecrators. He was made Bishop of Rancagua on 25 November 1987, and then Bishop of

on 16 April 1993.

Pro-Prefect and Prefect

On 21 June 1996 Medina was appointed Pro-Prefect of the

in Rome, being given the title of Prefect of the Congregation from 23 February 1998 until his retirement on 1 October 2002.

Cardinal

Medina was created a

Cardinal-Deacon A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Ca ...

in the consistory of 21 February 1998, with the title of San Saba. Medina was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave. Following the conclusion of the conclave, as Cardinal Protodeacon, the senior cardinal deacon, he announced to the world the election of

. He was the first non-Italian to do so in centuries and the first Latin American. As protodeacon, Medina imposed 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 ...

on Pope Benedict XVI and was one of the three cardinals who made the public act of obedience to him at the papal inauguration.Pope Benedict XVI Starts His Papacy
AmericanCatholic.org article on Pope Benedict XVI's inauguration. Retrieved 13 April 2013 Retrieved 12 April 2013. In retirement he returned to Chile in order to work as a priest in a parish in Las Condes. In the same period he published many short works of a pastoral nature.

Death and Legacy

He died in Santiago on 3 October 2021. Months after his death, a small park in his hometown was named after him by the local Council.

Views

Medina was a man of controversial views. He was a supporter of the Chilean coup d'etat by General

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean military officer and politician who was the dictator of Military dictatorship of Chile, Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader ...

and the regime it established. He was accused of having in his capacity as dean of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile of being one of the main denouncers of students and teachers suspected of having communist or socialist affiliations, many of whom become disappeared detainees. He never acknowledged the human rights violations of Pinochet's regime, including those featured in the

Rettig Report The Rettig Report, officially The National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation Report (), is a 1991 report by a commission designated by Chilean President Patricio Aylwin (from the '' Concertación'') detailing human rights abuses resulting i ...

or the Valech Report. In December 2008, at a Mass marking the second anniversary of the death of Pinochet, Medina condemned pop musician

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

, who was appearing in Santiago. He said "The atmosphere in our city is pretty agitated because this woman is visiting and with incredibly shameful behavior provokes a wild and lustful enthusiasm."

Sexual abuse of minors by priests

The prominent 80-year-old priest Fernando Karadima was found guilty in January 2011 by the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is a department of the Roman Curia in charge of the religious discipline of the Catholic Church. The Dicastery is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of t ...

of having sexually abused minors and ordered to retire to a life of prayer and penitence and never to exercise the priesthood in public again, Karadima was then accused under Chilean civil law of sexual abuse of minors, Medina is reported to have said that he doubted that the cleric would be sent to prison, since homosexual activity was not a crime in Chilean civil law and use of the term "sexual abuse" could be questioned: "With all due respect to the laws of my country, a child of 8 or 9 is very different from a 17-year-old ... A 17-year-old youngster knows what he is doing." He also remarked that priests are not immune to the devil's works: "Any informed Christian knows we are prone to weakness because of our human fragility. The devil gets in where he can. Priests are not immune from his snares." He defended the canonical sanctions imposed on Karadima as being the heaviest that could be imposed short of laicization, and as having taken into account Karadima's age and merits. One of Karadima's accusers called the cardinal's remark about 17-year-olds "an unwarranted attack". Another added that it was an attack not only on those who had denounced Karadima, but on all who were honestly looking for truth and justice for their lives. He regarded Medina's statements as "extremely suspicious, as if he wanted to diminish the outline of these grave actions, reducing the issue to

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

in a very silly manner, as if, furthermore, homosexuality and abuse were synonymous". The statements, he said, "were an attempt to free from responsibility someone who took advantage of his position of power over more vulnerable persons".

References

External links

* . {{DEFAULTSORT:Medina, Jorge 1926 births 2021 deaths Clergy from Santiago, Chile Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Chilean cardinals Protodeacons Members of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments Participants in the Second Vatican Council Second Vatican Council Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni 20th-century Roman Catholic theologians 21st-century Roman Catholic theologians 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Chile Roman Catholic bishops of Rancagua Roman Catholic bishops of Valparaíso University of Notre Dame people Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II