José Manuel Estepa Llaurens (1 January 1926 – 21 July 2019) was a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church who was Military Archbishop of Spain from 1983 to 2003. He 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 2010.

Biography

Born in

Andújar Andújar () is a Spanish municipality of 35,619 people (2024) in the province of Jaén, in Andalusia. The municipality is divided by the Guadalquivir River. The northern part of the municipality is where the Natural Park of the Sierra de And� ...

, Spain, on 1 January 1926. He studied philosophy at the

Pontifical University of Salamanca The Pontifical University of Salamanca (in Spanish (language), Spanish: ''Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca'') is a Private university, private Catholic university, Roman Catholic university based in Salamanca, Spain. History This Pontifica ...

and theology at the

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, where he obtained a doctorate in

pastoral theology Pastoral theology is the branch of practical theology concerned with the application of the study of religion in the context of regular church ministry. This approach to theology seeks to give practical expression to theology. Normally viewed as ...

. He obtained a licentiate in pastoral

catechesis Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the ...

at the Institut Catholique,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, in 1956. 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 ...

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 27 June 1954. He was chaplain of Colegio Mayor Universitario Guadalupe of

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, from 1956 until 1960. He served as professor at the Hispanicamerican Theological Seminary of Madrid from 1956 to 1964 and director of the Department of Pastoral of Obra de Cooperación Sacerdotal Hispanoamericana (OCSHA) from 1957 to 1961. He served as the assessore to the presidency of the Episcopal Council of Latin America (CELAM) from 1958 to 1967. He also collaborated with the Catholic Action. From 1965 until 1971, he was national director of catechesis of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, as well as general delegate of the Episcopal Commission for Education and consultor of the Congregation for the Clergy, 1971.

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

appointed him 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. ...

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 Tisili on 5 September 1972. He was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

a bishop on 15 October 1972; his principal

consecrator 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 Churches ...

was Cardinal Vicente Enrique y Tarancón, Archbishop of

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 the Ordinary of the Military Archbishopric of Spain and

Titular Archbishop 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 Velebusdus on 30 July 1983. His titular see was changed to Titular Archbishop of Italica on 18 November 1989, but he resigned it on 7 March 1998. He retired as Military Archbishop of Spain on 30 October 2003. In the 1980s and 90s, he was a member of the Commission of six bishops that edited the ''

Catechism of the Catholic Church The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' (; commonly called the ''Catechism'' or the ''CCC'') is a reference work that summarizes the Catholic Church's doctrine. It was Promulgation (Catholic canon law), promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1992 ...

'' and oversaw the production of its Spanish translation.

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 ...

made him

Cardinal-Priest 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. ...

of San Gabriele Arcangelo all'Acqua Traversa on 20 November 2010 at the age of 84. He died on 21 July 2019 at the age of 93.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Estepa Llaurens, Jose Manuel 1926 births 2019 deaths Spanish Roman Catholic titular archbishops 20th-century Roman Catholic titular archbishops 21st-century Spanish cardinals Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Institut Catholique de Paris alumni Cardinals created by Pope Benedict XVI Pontifical University of Salamanca alumni People from Andújar