Ricardo Blázquez Pérez (; born 13 April 1942) is a Spanish prelate of the

Roman 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 ...

. He was Archbishop of

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

from 2010 to 2022. He had been a bishop since 1988 and was made 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 ...

in 2015, when he was described as "a theological moderate and perennial counterweight to Spain's more doctrinally conservative and socially combative prelates".

Biography

Ricardo Blázquez Pérez was born in Villanueva del Campillo (Ávila) on 13 April 1942. He studied in the seminaries of Ávila from 1955 to 1967. He was ordained a priest on 18 February 1967. He then 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 ...

, earning his doctorate in 1972. He also studied in Germany. From 1972 to 1974 he served as secretary of the Theological Institute of Ávila. From 1974 to 1988 he was a professor and then from 1978 to 1981 the dean of the Faculty of Theology of the

Pontifical University of Salamanca The Pontifical University of Salamanca (in Spanish (language), Spanish: ''Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca'') is a Private university, private Catholic university, Roman Catholic university based in Salamanca, Spain. History This Pontifica ...

. He was Grand Chancellor there from 2000 to 2004. He was named an auxiliary bishop of

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...

and assigned the titular see of Germa di Galazia on 8 April 1988. He received his episcopal consecration on 29 May 1988 from Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela. On 26 May 1992

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 ...

named him Bishop of Palencia, and on 8 September 1995 Bishop of Bilbao. His appointment to Bilbao was protested by Basque nationalists. In 2009, he was one of five bishops charged with conducting an investigation of the

Legionaries of Christ The Legionaries of Christ (in , abbreviated L.C.) is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of pontifical right founded on January 3, 1941, by the Mexican Catholic priest Marcial Maciel. It belongs constitutively to the spiritual family of Regn ...

, with responsibility for the order's branches in Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, Holland, Poland, Austria and Hungary. In September 2010, he was named to conduct an apostolic visitation of that order's lay apostolate,

Regnum Christi Regnum Christi, officially the Regnum Christi Federation (Latin: Regnum Christi Foederationis) is an international Catholic Federation. It is made up of lay Catholics, as well as the religious congregation of the Legionaries of Christ (seminaria ...

, as well. On 13 March 2010,

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 Archbishop of Valladolid. He was installed there on 17 April. He has served on various commissions within the Bishops’ Conference of Spain including the Doctrine of the Faith, the Liturgical Commission and the Commission for Interconfessional Relations. He was elected three times to a three-year term as president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference in 2005, 2014, and 2017. He was vice-president from 2008 to 2014. He was elected by that Conference to participate in the Synod of Bishops on the family in October 2014 and 2015. On 29 March 2014, Pope Francis made him a member of the

Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life The Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, formerly called Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (DICLSAL and formerly CICLSAL; ), is the dicastery of the Roman Cu ...

and he renewed this appointment for another five-year term on 8 July 2019. On 4 January 2015,

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 ...

announced that he would make him a

on 14 February. At that ceremony, he was assigned the titular church of

Santa Maria in Vallicella Santa Maria in Vallicella, also called Chiesa Nuova, is a church in Rome, Italy, which today faces onto the main thoroughfare of the Corso Vittorio Emanuele and the corner of Via della Chiesa Nuova. It is the principal church of the Oratorians ...

. He was the first ordinary of Valladolid to become a cardinal since 1919, only the third in its 400-year history. On 13 April 2015 Pope Francis appointed him a member of the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is a department of the Roman Curia in charge of the religious discipline of the Catholic Church. The Dicastery is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of t ...

and the Pontifical Council for Culture, and on 27 June 2015 of the Congregation for Oriental Churches. On 8 January 2016, Pope Francis named him a member of the

Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See The Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA; ) is the office of the Roman Curia that deals with the "provisions owned by the Holy See in order to provide the funds necessary for the Roman Curia to function". It was established ...

. He was appointed a member of the

Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments () is the dicastery (from , from δικαστής, 'judge, juror') of the Roman Curia that handles most affairs relating to liturgical practices of the Latin Church as distin ...

on 28 October 2016. In November 2015, the Spanish Episcopal Conference elected him grand chancellor of the Pontifical University of Salamanca, a post he had held once before. He was one of three prelates the Spanish Episcopal Conference elected to participate in the Synod of Bishops on Youth in October 2018. Pope Francis accepted his resignation as archbishop of Valladolid on 17 June 2022.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blazquez, Ricardo 1942 births Living people Pontifical Gregorian University alumni 21st-century Spanish cardinals Cardinals created by Pope Francis Members of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith Members of the Pontifical Council for Culture Members of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

Biography

See also

References

External links