Role Archpriest Appointed November 21, 2011 Name Santos y Consecration June 16, 1985 | Coat of arms Ordination March 19, 1960 Denomination Roman Catholic | |
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Birth name Santos Abril y Castello Born 21 September 1935 (age 89) Alfambra, Spain ( 1935-09-21 ) Previous post Apostolic Nuncio to Bolivia (1985–1989)Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Cameroun (1989–1996)Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Gabon (1989–1996)Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Equatorial Guinea (1989–1996)Apostolic Nuncio to Yugoslavia (1996–2000)Apostolic Nuncio to Argentina (2000–2003)Apostolic Nuncio to Slovenia (2003–2011)Apostolic Nuncio to Bosnia-Herzegovina (2003–2005)Apostolic Nuncio to Macedonia (2003–2011)Vice-Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber (2011–2012) | ||
Created cardinal February 18, 2012 | ||
Suspenden ordenaciones en CDE por orden del Papa
Santos Abril y Castelló (born 21 September 1935) is a Spanish prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. After a career in the diplomatic corps of the Holy See, he held a number of positions in the Roman Curia and from 2011 to 2016 was Archpriest of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.
Abril y Castelló was born in Alfambra, Spain. He was ordained a priest for the diocese of Teruel and Albarracín on 19 March 1960. In 1961, he went to Rome to study and obtained a doctorate in social sciences at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum and a doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He attended the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome.
Joining he diplomatic service of the Holy See, he worked in Pakistan, Turkey and the Second Section of the Secretariat of State in Rome. On 29 April 1985 Pope John Paul II, named him Apostolic Nuncio to Bolivia and Titular Archbishop of Tamada. He received his episcopal consecration on 16 June 1985 from Cardinal Secretary of State Agostino Casaroli. He later served as papal nuncio to Cameroon (1989–1996), Yugoslavia (1996–2000), Argentina (2000–2003), and Slovenia and Macedonia (2003–2011).
On 22 January 2011, after retiring from the diplomatic corps, Pope Benedict named him Vice-Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber, the official responsible controlling access to papal conclaves and overseeing their operations.
On 2 April 2011 he was appointed a member of the Congregation for Bishops.
On 21 November 2011 he was named Archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Major.
On 23 July 2012,Pope Benedict XVI named Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata to succeed him as Vice-Camerlengo.
On 18 February 2012 Pope Benedict raised him to the rank of cardinal, making him Cardinal-Deacon of San Ponziano.
On 21 April 2012 he was appointed a member of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Congregation for Bishops and the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2013 papal conclave that elected Pope Francis. The day before the election of Pope Francis, La Stampa named Abril y Costello as a possible candidate for the papacy because he combined experience in both Latin American and the Roman Curia. The newspaper also reported that before the conclave Abril served as a mediator in discussions between factions of cardinals representing Latin America and others looking for a pope from outside the Curia.
On 15 January 2014, he was named to a five-year term as a member of the Commission of Cardinals overseeing the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), commonly known as the Vatican Bank, and on 4 March 2014, the members of that Commission elected him as their president.
His curial appointments ended when he reached the age of 80, as did his right to vote in a papal conclave.
On 28 December 2016, Pope Francis accepted his resignation as Archpriest and appointed Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko to succeed him.