José Rico Pavés (9 October 1966) is a Spanish Catholic clergyman, and since 9 June 2021 the Bishop of Jerez de la Frontera.

Biography

He was born in

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

on 9 October 1966.

Priesthood and ministry

He completed his ecclesiastical studies in

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...

from 1985 to 1992, and continued his studies between 1987 and 1989, attending a course in spirituality and another in classical languages. During that time, he translated two patristic works of St. Gregory the Great for ''Editorial Ciudad Nueva'', a publishing house. He continued his studies 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 ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

where he obtained a licentiate in

systematic theology Systematic theology, or systematics, is a discipline of Christian theology that formulates an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the doctrines of the Christian faith. It addresses issues such as what the Bible teaches about certain topics ...

in 1994 and a degree in

patristics Patristics, also known as Patrology, is a branch of theological studies focused on the writings and teachings of the Church Fathers, between the 1st to 8th centuries CE. Scholars analyze texts from both orthodox and heretical authors. Patristics e ...

in 1998, obtaining a medal for his thesis. On 11 October 1992, he was ordained a priest for the

archdiocese of Toledo The Archdiocese of Toledo () is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in Spain.

by Cardinal

Marcelo González Martín Marcelo González Martín (16 January 1918 – 25 August 2004) was a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and Archbishop of Toledo and Primate of Spain. González Martín was born in Villanubla, Valladolid Province as the son of Marcelo Go ...

. He was later a coadjutor vicar in a parish in Granada; an adjunct professor at the

from 1996 to 1998; served as a theology professor and faculty in several universities; worked for the parish of San Tommaso in Toledo from 2001 to 2012; director of the secretariat for the faith and ecumenism of the archdiocese of Toledo from 2005 to 2012 and director of a theological institute from 2008 to 2012. He was also a visiting professor at the Leo XIII Institute of Social Doctrine of the Church in Madrid and at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre and a member of the Association of Patrologists of the East and West of the Pro Oriente Foundation. based in Vienna, from 2001 to 2012.

Episcopal ministry

On 6 July 2012,

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 ...

appointed him

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. ...

Getafe Getafe () is a municipalities in Spain, municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city c ...

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 Mentesa. He received episcopal ordination on the following 21 September in the basilica of

Cerro de los Ángeles The Cerro de los Ángeles (''Hill of the Angels'') is a hill located in Getafe, Spain, about south of Madrid. The site is famous for being the geographic centre of the Iberian Peninsula. On top of the hill there is a fourteenth-century monaste ...

by the bishop of Getafe

Joaquín María López de Andújar y Cánovas del Castillo Joaquín María López de Andújar y Cánovas del Castillo (born 13 September 1942) is a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church. He previously served as the bishop of Getafe from 2004 to 2017. Biography Joaquín María was born on Madrid on 1 ...

, co-consecrating Cardinal

Antonio María Rouco Varela Antonio María Rouco Varela (born 20 August 1936) is a Spanish Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Madrid from 1994 to 2014. He was made a cardinal in 1998. Rouco was president of the Episcopal Conference of Spain from 1999 to 2005 a ...

, metropolitan

archbishop of Madrid The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Madrid () is a Latin archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Spain. It is one of Spain's fourteen metropolitan archbishoprics. Since 12 June 2023 the archbishop of Madrid has been José Cobo Cano. Although Madrid ha ...

, and the metropolitan

archbishop of Toledo The Archdiocese of Toledo () is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in Spain.

Braulio Rodríguez Plaza Braulio Rodríguez Plaza (27 January 1944) is a Spanish Catholic prelate, who was Metropolitan Archbishop of Toledo and Primate of Spain from 16 April 2009 to 27 December 2019. A bishop since 1987, he was Metropolitan Archbishop of Valladolid fr ...

. On 9 June 2021,

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 ...

appointed him

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Jerez de la Frontera Jerez de la Frontera () or simply Jerez, also cited in old English-language sources as , is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Sp ...

. He took control of the diocese on the following 31 July. Within the

Spanish Episcopal Conference The Spanish Episcopal Conference (, ) is an administrative institution composed of all the bishops of the dioceses of Spain and Andorra, in communion with the Roman Pontiff and under his authority. Its purpose is the joint exercise certain pastor ...

, he has been head of the

catechumenate Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the r ...

of the commission for evangelism since March 2020 and head of the same commission since April 2022. Previously he was a member of the commission for the doctrine of the faith from 2012 to 2014, a member of the subcommittee for catechesis from 2014 to 2017, and a member of the commission for education and catechesis from 2014 to 2020.

Works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rico Pavés, José 1966 births 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Spain Clergy from Granada Living people