
José Luis Escobar Alas (born 10 March 1959) is a
Salvadoran Catholic prelate who has served as
Archbishop of San Salvador since 2009.
Escobar served as
Bishop of San Vicente beginning in 2005, prior to his elevation to San Salvador on 27 December 2008. He was previously an auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of San Vicente since 2002, having entered the
priesthood in 1982.
Biography
Escobar was born in the town of
Suchitoto in the
department of
Cuzcatlán. He studied for the priesthood at San José de la Montaña Seminary in San Salvador before entering the Seminario Mayor de
Morelia
Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid; Otomi language, Otomi: ) is a city and municipal seat of the municipalities of Mexico, municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. It is both th ...
in
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
. He later graduated with a
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 ...
degree from
Pontifical Gregorian University
Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy.
The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...
in Rome. 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 ...
a priest on August 15, 1982.
Thereafter, he was
Rector of the San Vicente Diocesan Seminary before teaching at San José de la Montaña Seminary in San Salvador, after which he was appointed to the
''Nuestra Señora del Pilar'' (Our Lady of the Pillar) parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
in
San Vicente. Escobar served as
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 ...
of the
Diocese of San Vicente before being named an auxiliary bishop 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 ...
on January 19, 2002. He was consecrated as an auxiliary bishop on March 23, 2002 and then was promoted as Bishop of San Vicente on July 9, 2005, where he served until becoming
Archbishop of San Salvador in 2006.
In late December 2012, Escobar authorised the removal of the tiled ceramic mural façade of the
San Salvador Cathedral, El Salvador's principal basilica, without consultation with the
national government nor the artist,
Fernando Llort. This resulted in the destruction of all the 2,700 tiles of the
mural
A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' ...
which depicted former archbishop
Óscar Romero
Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (15 August 1917 – 24 March 1980) was a prelate of the Catholic Church in El Salvador. He served as Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Salvador, Archdiocese of San Salvador, the Titular ...
.
In July 2022 he voiced his support for the
government's crackdown on gangs.
See also
*
Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador
References
External links
Catholic-Hierarchy - José Luis Escobar Alas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Escobar Alas, Jose Luis
1959 births
Living people
People from Cuscatlán Department
Roman Catholic archbishops of San Salvador
21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in El Salvador
Pontifical Gregorian University alumni
Salvadoran Roman Catholic bishops
Roman Catholic bishops of San Vicente