Juan José Asenjo Pelegrina (born 15 October 1945) is a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church who was the

Archbishop of Seville The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Seville () is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Seville, Spain. The Diocese of Seville was founded in the 3rd century. It was raised to the level of an archdiocese in the 4th century. The curren ...

from 5 November 2009 until his retirement on 17 April 2021.

Biography

Juan José Asenjo Pelegrina was born in

Sigüenza Sigüenza () is a city in the La Serranía, Serranía de Guadalajara Comarcas of Castile-La Mancha, comarca, Province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. History The site of the ancient ''Segontia'' ('dominating over the valley') of the C ...

on 15 October 1945. He entered the seminary and studied

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 ...

and

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 ...

. He was ordained a priest on 21 September 1969. In 1971 he received a licentiate in

at the Theological Faculty of

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populous municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of th ...

. From 1977 to 1979 he attended courses for 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 ...

Church history Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of t ...

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 ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. He also holds a

Diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offi ...

in Archives and Library Science at the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library (, ), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City, and is the city-state's national library. It was formally established in 1475, alth ...

and archiving the

Vatican Secret Archives The Vatican Apostolic Archive (; ), formerly known as the Vatican Secret Archive (; ), is the central repository in the Vatican City of all acts promulgated by the Holy See. The Pope, as the sovereign of Vatican City, owns the material held ...

. He served as professor of

ecclesiology In Christian theology, ecclesiology is the study of the Church, the origins of Christianity, its relationship to Jesus, its role in salvation, its polity, its discipline, its eschatology, and its leadership. In its early history, one of th ...

and history of the Church at the seminary of Sigüenza from 1971 to 1974. He also held the positions of vice- rector of the seminary (1974–1977), director of the university residence "Ntra. Sra. De la Estrella" on Sigüenza (1979–1988), director of the diocesan archive (1979–1981), diocesan director for education (1980–1982), canon in charge of the artistic heritage (1985–1997), diocesan director for cultural heritage 1985-1993), vice rector of the sanctuary of "Nuestra Señora de la Salud" of Barbatona (1994–1997). From 1993 to 1997 he was undersecretary of the

Episcopal Conference An episcopal conference, often also called a bishops’ conference or conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The fir ...

. In 1986 he founded and directed the magazine ''Abside'' and is the author of several publications. On 27 February 1997,

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

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 Iziriana and

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 Toledo. He received episcopal consecration on 20 April that year. From 1998 to 2003, he was Secretary General of the Spanish Episcopal Conference. Pope John Paul appointed him Bishop of Córdoba on 28 July 2003.

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 ...

named him Coadjutor Archbishop of Seville on 13 November 2008, and he became Archbishop of Seville on 5 November 2009, when Pope Benedict accepted the resignation of his predecessor,

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 ...

Carlos Amigo Vallejo.

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 ...

accepted his resignation on 17 April 2021.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Asenjo Pelegrina, Juan Living people 1945 births People from the Province of Guadalajara 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Spain Roman Catholic archbishops of Seville Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Spanish expatriates in Italy