Province Quito Term ended 11 September 2010 Installed 21 March 2003 | See Cathedral of Quito Diocese Archdiocese of Quito Name Raul Vela | |
 | ||
Predecessor Antonio Jose Gonzalez Zumarraga | ||
Ecuadorian Cardinal Chiriboga turns 80, papal electors down to 107
Raúl Eduardo Vela Chiriboga (born 1 January 1934 in Riobamba) is the Archbishop Emeritus of Quito. He served as archbishop of Quito, the capital of Ecuador from 2003 to 2010, when Fausto Trávez Trávez was appointed as his successor.
Pope Benedict XVI elevated Vela Chiriboga to the status of cardinal at a consistory on 20 November 2010, making him Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria in Via. He participated in the papal conclave of 2013, which selected Pope Francis after Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's resignation.
Cardinal Vela Chiriboga lost the right to participate as a Cardinal elector in future papal conclaves and his active Curial memberships upon reaching the age of 80 on 1 January 2014, though he may still participate in pre- and post-conclave discussions and meetings and be asked by the Pope and Curial departments to give his advice and counsel.
On Tuesday, 16 June 2015, Pope Francis named Cardinal Vela Chiriboga to be his Special Envoy to the 10th National Eucharistic Congress of Peru, to be celebrated in Piura.