See Bogota (emeritus) Term ended 8 July 2010 Successor Ruben Salazar Gomez | Installed 27 December 1994 Predecessor Mario Revollo Bravo Name Pedro Saenz | |
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Ordination 5 July 1956
by Julio Caicedo Tellez | ||
#Felices17 (13) Cardenal Pedro Rubiano I Banco de Alimentos de Bogotá
Pedro Rubiano Saenz (born September 13, 1932) is a Cardinal and Roman Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Bogota in the Roman Catholic Church.
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Early life and ordination
Born in Cartago, Colombia, Rubiano Saenz studied at the seminary in Popayan before his being ordained as a priest on 8 July 1956. He did pastoral ministry 1956–1971. Pastor and founder of the parishes of "San Pedro Claver" and of "Nuestra Seoora de la Providencia". He served as treasurer and pastoral vicar of the archdiocese of Cali and vice-rector of the Major School "Santiago di Cali".
Bishop and Archbishop
In 1971, he was named Bishop of Cucuta. He was consecrated only fifteen years after his ordination to the priesthood and just within the canonical limit, on 11 July 1972 in Cali, by Archbishop Angelo Palmas, nuncio to Colombia. He was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Cali in 1983 and was transferred to the metropolitan and primatial see of Bogota, 27 December 1994. From 1990 to 1996, he chaired the Colombian Bishops' Conference.
Cardinal
Pope John Paul II proclaimed Rubiano Saenz Cardinal-Priest of Trasfigurazione di Nostro Signore Gesu Cristo in the consistory of February 21, 2001. In 2002, he was elected president of the Colombian Episcopal Conference, and he was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI. Cardinal Rubiano Saenz's resignation as Archbishop of Bogota was accepted by Pope Benedict on 8 July 2010. He was apostolic administrator of the archdiocese until the installation of his successor, Archbishop Jesus Salazar Gomez, on August 13, 2010.
Abortion
Cardinal Rubiano Saenz has pleaded with pro-lifers worldwide to join in a massive prayer effort to stop abortion from being legalized in the country. He has warned that the procedure leads to an automatic excommunication.
Colombian President
Cardinal Pedro Rubiano Saenz of Bogota expressed his opposition against conservative President Alvaro Uribe running for re-election in 2010.
Chavez and FARC rebels
Cardinal Rubiano Saenz has said that the intervention by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is not necessary for achieving an agreement over the exchange of prisoners with the Marxists rebel group FARC.