Francisco Robles Ortega (; born 2 March 1949) is a Mexican prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

who has been Archbishop of Guadalajara since 2012 and a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

since 2007. He was archbishop of Monterrey from 2003 to 2011. He was president of the Mexican Episcopal Conference from 2012 to 2018.

Biography

Early life

Francisco Robles Ortega was born in Mascota on 2 March 1949, the third of sixteen children born to Francisco Robles Arreola (b. 1917) and Teresa Ortega de Robles (b. 1927). He studied

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

at the

minor seminary A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Priesthood (Catholic Church), Catholic priests. They are generally ...

Autlán Autlán de Navarro is a city and its surrounding municipality of the same name in the Costa Sur region of the southwestern part of the state of Jalisco in Mexico. At the Mexican census of 2005, the municipality had a population of 53,269. In 20 ...

, philosophy at the seminary in

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

, and theology at the seminary in Zamora. Robles was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood by Bishop José Vásquez Silos on 20 July 1976. He studied at the

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

in Rome from 1976 to 1979, obtaining his licentiate in theology. Upon his return to Autlán, he held appointments as parish vicar, prefect of studies and spiritual director at the minor seminary, and chaplain of nuns. In 1980 he became rector of the seminary. He also served as diocesan consultor and president of the priests council and a member of the Commission for the Formation of the Clergy and of the Diocesan Commission for the Doctrine of the Faith. In 1985 he was appointed vicar general of the diocese and then became assistant to the commission for economic affairs of the diocese and taught at the seminary. He was named apostolic administrator of Autlán following the death of Bishop Vásquez Silos in July 1990.

Bishop

On 30 April 1991, Robles was appointed

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the States of Mexico, state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. Toluca has a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the Grea ...

and

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Bossa by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

. He received his episcopal consecration on the following 5 June from Bishop Alfredo Torres Romero, with Bishops José Hernández González and Javier Lozano Barragán serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

, in the Cathedral of Toluca. Robles was named diocesan administrator of Toluca following the death of Bishop Torres Romero on 15 October 1995. He was appointed bishop of Toluca on 15 June 1996 and was installed on 15 July of that same year. On 25 January 2003, he was promoted to Archbishop of Monterrey.

Cardinal

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

created him

cardinal-priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. ...

of Santa Maria della Presentazione in the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistor ...

of 24 November 2007. On 5 January 2011 he was appointed among the first members of the newly created Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation. On 7 December 2011 Robles was appointed the Archbishop of Guadalajara. On 24 November 2012 he was appointed a member of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. He was elected to a three-year term as president of the Mexican Episcopal Conference in 2012 and then elected to a second term, ending his service in 2018. He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the

2013 papal conclave A papal conclave was held on 12 and 13 March 2013 to elect a new pope to succeed Benedict XVI, who had resigned on 28 February 2013. Of the 117 eligible Cardinal electors in the 2013 papal conclave, cardinal electors, all but two attended. On th ...

that elected

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

. He was appointed a member of the

Congregation for Bishops The Dicastery for Bishops, formerly named Congregation for Bishops (), is the department of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church that oversees the selection of most new bishops. Its proposals require papal approval to take effect, but are usu ...

on 16 December 2013. He was once again a cardinal elector in the

2025 papal conclave A conclave was held on 7 and 8 May 2025 to elect a new pope to succeed Pope Francis, Francis, who had died on 21 April 2025. Of the 135 eligible Cardinal electors in the 2025 papal conclave, cardinal electors, all but two attended. Cardinal Piet ...

that elected

Pope Leo XIV Pope Leo XIV (born Robert Francis Prevost, September 14, 1955) has been head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State since May 2025. He is the first pope to have been born in the United States and North America, the fir ...

Views

Drug politics

The archbishop has called on the country's political parties and organizations to take action to avoid infiltration in their ranks by drug traders.

Secularism in education

Robles said "we are against the change proposed by the decree to reform Article 3" of the Constitution because it seeks to encourage secularism in private educational institutions, eliminating the subject of religion, which trains young people in moral values.

Poverty and humility

In naming archbishop Francisco Robles of Monterrey as one of 23 new Roman Catholic cardinals, analysts say the Vatican chose a clergyman who advocates for the poor and beseeches the faithful to embrace humility.

Family policy

Robles has said that the family is "an institution that is natural, that is the basis of society", and he warned those who oppose a new law that would protect it not to attempt to "supplant such an important institution as the family."

References

External links

*
Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church
* (for Chronology of Bishops) * (for Chronology of Bishops) {{DEFAULTSORT:Robles Ortega, Francisco 1949 births Living people People from Jalisco Mexican cardinals 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Mexico 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Mexico Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Cardinals created by Pope Benedict XVI Members of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation Members of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications Members of the Congregation for Bishops Roman Catholic archbishops of Guadalajara