Juan García Rodríguez | |
|---|---|
| Metropolitan Archbishop of San Cristóbal de la Habana | |
 García Rodríguez in mid-2016. | |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Archdiocese | San Cristóbal de la Habana |
| See | San Cristóbal de la Habana |
| Appointed | 26 April 2016 |
| Installed | 22 May 2016 |
| Predecessor | Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino |
| Other post | Cardinal-Priest of Santi Aquila e Priscilla (2019-) |
| Previous posts |
|
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 25 January 1972 by Adolfo Rodríguez Herrera |
| Consecration | 7 June 1997 by Adolfo Rodríguez Herrera |
| Created cardinal | 5 October 2019 byPope Francis |
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Juan de la Caridad García Rodríguez (1948-07-11)11 July 1948 (age 77) |
| Motto | Ve y anuncia el Evangelio (Go and preach the Gospel) |
| Coat of arms | .svg) |
| Styles of Juan Garcia Rodriguez | |
|---|---|
| |
| Reference style | The Most Reverend |
| Spoken style | Your Excellency |
| Religious style | Archbishop |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
Juan de la Caridad García Rodríguez (born 11 July 1948) is aCuban prelate of theCatholic Church who has served asArchbishop of Havana since 26 April 2016. He previously served as anAuxiliary Bishop of Camagüey from 1997 to 2002 and then as archbishop of that diocese from 2002 to 2016. He is a past president of theCuban Conference of Catholic Bishops.Pope Francis raised him to the rank ofcardinal on 5 October 2019.
He was born inCamagüey on 11 July 1948. He was a member of the first group of Cuban priests to be educated entirely in Cuba.[1] He studied at Saint Basil the Great Seminary in El Cobre,Santiago de Cuba, and then at Saints Charles and Ambrose Seminary (now the Father Felix Varela Cultural Center) in Havana.[2] He wasordained a priest on 25 January 1972. In the years after his ordination he worked in parishes that are now part of theCiego de Ávila Diocese.[2]
In March 1997 he was namedauxiliary bishop of Camagüey and was consecrated bishop in Camagüey's Our Lady of Mercy Church on 7 June 1997 by Adolfo Rodríguez Herrera, the bishop of Camagüey. He chose as his episcopal motto "Go and announce the Gospel".[2] Camagüey became an archdiocese in late 1998 and he was named to succeed Herrera as archbishop in February 2002.[3] He developed evangelization programs in which grandparents, who still remembered their education in Catholicism as children, taught the principles of Catholicism to their grandchildren. He also, with government permission, established prison ministries.[4]
García Rodríguez was the president of the First National Missions Assembly in Havana in 2006.[2] He was elected president of the Cuban Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2006[1] and served until 2010. He represented Cuba at the fifth general assembly ofLatin American and Caribbean bishops in Aparecida, Brazil, in 2007,[4][2] which ended with the promulgation of the Declaration of Aparecida drafted by Cardinal Bergoglio of Buenos Aires (later Pope Francis). The Vatican named him a member of thePontifical Council for Justice and Peace in February 2007.[5]
He participated in the 2014 sessions of theSynod on the Family.[2]
On 26 April 2016,Pope Francis named him Archbishop of Havana to succeed CardinalJaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino who is a Cuban prelate of the Catholic Church.[1]Granma, the newspaper of theCommunist Party of Cuba, reported his appointment.[6] He was installed on 22 May.[7]
On 5 October 2019, Pope Francis made himCardinal-Priest ofSanti Aquila e Priscilla.[8] He was made a member of theCongregation for the Clergy on 21 February 2020[9] and of thePontifical Commission for Latin America on 20 April 2020.[10]
He participated as acardinal elector in the2025 papal conclave that electedPope Leo XIV.[11]
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Mario Eusebio Mestril Vega | Auxiliary Bishop of Camagüey 15 March 1997 – 10 June 2002 | Vacant |
| Preceded by | — TITULAR — Titular Bishop of Gummi in Proconsulari 15 March 1997 – 10 June 2002 | Succeeded by Markos Ghebremedhin |
| Preceded by Adolfo Rodríguez Herrera | Archbishop of Camagüey 10 June 2002 – 26 April 2016 | Succeeded by Wilfredo Pino Estévez |
| Preceded by | President of the Cuban Episcopal Conference April 2007 – 29 March 2009 | Succeeded by Dionisio Guillermo García Ibáñez |
| Archbishop of La Habana 26 April 2016 – | Incumbent | |
| Cardinal-Priest of Santi Aquila e Priscilla 5 October 2019 – | ||
