Mario Aurelio Poli (; born 29 November 1947) is an
Argentine prelate of the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
who has served as the
Archbishop of Buenos Aires
The Archdiocese of Buenos Aires (''Archidioecesis Bonaerensis'') is one of thirteen Latin Metropolitan archdioceses of the Catholic Church in Argentina, South America.
The Archbishopric of Buenos Aires is the Primatial see (protocollary first-r ...
since April 2013. He previously served as the
Bishop of Santa Rosa from 2008 to 2013.
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
, his predecessor in Buenos Aires, made him a
cardinal in 2014.
Early life, education, and presbyterate
Mario Poli was born in Buenos Aires in 1947 as a son of Italian immigrants. He began his philosophical and theological studies in 1969 at the
Inmaculada Concepción Seminary in
Villa Devoto. He obtained degrees as bachelor of social services at the
University of Buenos Aires
The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one of the most prestigi ...
and as doctor of theology at the
Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina
A pontifical ( la, pontificale) is a Christian liturgical book containing the liturgies that only a bishop may perform. Among the liturgies are those of the ordinal for the ordination and consecration of deacons, priests, and bishops to Holy ...
. Poli was ordained a priest by Cardinal
Juan Carlos Aramburu on 25 November 1978,
and led the Parish of
San Cayetano in
Liniers
Liniers is a barrio (neighborhood) of Buenos Aires on the edge of the city, centered on Rivadavia Avenue. It is also an important train station and bus hub, connecting western Gran Buenos Aires with the Buenos Aires Metro.
The neighborhood deve ...
for two years.
In 1992, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires Cardinal
Antonio Quarracino
Antonio Quarracino (8 August 1923 – 28 February 1998) was a Cardinal of the Catholic Church of Argentina and the Archbishop of Buenos Aires between 1990 and 1998.
Biography Early life and priesthood
Quarracino was born in Pollica, Prov ...
appointed him Director of the Vocational Institute "Saint Joseph", place of formation of the future priests, where he exercised a peculiar and striking selective discrimination on the postulants or candidates to the entrance, for internal ideological, socio-economic reasons, for carrying face and geographical origin.
He obtained the title of doctor in Theology and was professor of ecclesiastical history and Patrology at the Argentine Catholic University.
Episcopal career
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
appointed him auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires in 2002, and
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...
appointed him
Bishop of Santa Rosa in 2008.
[
Poli has opposed ]same-sex marriage in Argentina
Same-sex marriage in Argentina has been legal since July 22, 2010. A bill to legalize same-sex marriage was passed by the Chamber of Deputies on May 5, 2010, and by the Senate on July 15. President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner gave her assent ...
and commented that he would have a respectful but distant relationship with the administration of Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and politician who has served as the Vice President of Argentina since 2019. She also served as the President o ...
, a political stance similar to that of Bergoglio.[ He has requested an increased dialogue between the church and the state.
News of his appointment as Archbishop of Buenos Aires was leaked to the press on 27 March 2013, which was not well received by the church.]pallium
The pallium (derived from the Roman ''pallium'' or ''palla'', a woolen cloak; : ''pallia'') is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the pope, but for many centuries bestowed by the Holy See upon metropol ...
from Pope Francis in Rome on 29 June 2013.
Cardinalate
Poli was created Cardinal-Priest in the consistory of 22 February 2014. and assigned the titular church of San Roberto Bellarmino, whose previous occupant was Bergoglio (now Pope Francis),[ also from the see of Buenos Aires.
On 19 February 2014 he was appointed a member of the ]Congregation for the Oriental Churches
The Dicastery for the Eastern Churches (also called Dicastery for the Oriental Churches), previously named Congregation for the Oriental Churches or Congregation for the Eastern Churches ( la, Congregatio pro Ecclesiis Orientalibus), is a dicaste ...
and Pontifical Council for the Laity.
Poli gave the homily for the Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...
at the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral for the 2014 ''First National Government
The Anniversary of the First National Government ( es, Primer gobierno patrio) is a public holiday of Argentina, commemorating the May Revolution and the creation of the Primera Junta on May 25,
1810, which is considered the first patriotic govern ...
'' holiday. Poli quoted Francis and requested more political dialogue.
See also
* Cardinals created by Francis
References
External links
*
Mario Poli
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poli, Mario
1947 births
Living people
Clergy from Buenos Aires
Argentine people of Italian descent
University of Buenos Aires alumni
Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina alumni
21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Argentina
Roman Catholic archbishops of Buenos Aires
Argentine theologians
Cardinals created by Pope Francis
Argentine cardinals
Members of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches
Members of the Pontifical Council for the Laity
Roman Catholic bishops of Santa Rosa in Argentina