Santos Abril y Castelló (born 21 September 1935) is a Spanish 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 ...

. After a career in the diplomatic corps of the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

, he held a number of positions in the

Roman Curia The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use ...

and from 2011 to 2016 was Archpriest of the

Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore Santa Maria Maggiore (), also known as the Basilica of Saint Mary Major or the Basilica of Saint Mary the Great, is one of the four Basilicas in the Catholic Church#Major and papal basilicas, major papal basilicas and one of the Seven Pilgrim C ...

Biography

Abril y Castelló was born in Alfambra, Spain, on 21 September 1935. He was ordained a priest for the diocese of Teruel and Albarracín on 19 March 1960. In 1961, he went to Rome to study and obtained a doctorate in social sciences at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, ''Angelicum'' and a doctorate in canon law 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 ...

. He attended the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome. Joining he diplomatic service of the Holy See, he worked in Pakistan, Turkey and the Second Section of the Secretariat of State in Rome. On 29 April 1985, Pope John Paul II named him Apostolic Nuncio to Bolivia and

Titular Archbishop 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 Tamada. He received his episcopal consecration on 16 June 1985 from

Cardinal Secretary of State The Secretary of State of His Holiness (; ), also known as the Cardinal Secretary of State or the Vatican Secretary of State, presides over the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, the oldest and most important dicastery of the Roman Curia. Th ...

Agostino Casaroli Agostino Casaroli (24 November 1914 – 9 June 1998) was an Italian Catholic priest and diplomat for the Holy See, who became Cardinal Secretary of State. He was an important figure behind the Vatican's efforts to deal with the religious persec ...

. Pope John Paul named him apostolic pro-nuncio to Cameroon, to Gabon, and to Equatorial Guinea on 2 October 1989 and nuncio to Yugoslavia on 24 February 1996. On 4 March 2000 he named him nuncio to Argentina. On 9 April 2003, he named him nuncio to both Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, to which he added the title nuncio to Macedonia on 12 April. On 22 January 2011, Pope Benedict named him Vice-Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber, the official responsible controlling access to

papal conclave A conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to appoint the pope of the Catholic Church. Catholics consider the pope to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and the earthly head of the Catholic Church. Concerns around ...

s and overseeing their operations. On 2 April 2011 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 21 November 2011 he was named Archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Major. On 18 February 2012 Pope Benedict raised him to the rank of cardinal, making him

Cardinal-Deacon 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. Ca ...

of San Ponziano. On 21 April 2012 he was appointed a member of the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, passi ...

, the

and the

Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (CEP; ) was a congregation (Roman Curia), congregation of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church in Rome, responsible for Catholic missions, missionary work and related activities. It is also kn ...

. On 23 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 ...

named Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata to succeed him as Vice-Camerlengo. 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 ...

. The day before the election of Pope Francis, ''

La Stampa (English: "The Press") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Turin with an average circulation of 87,143 copies in May 2023. Distributed in Italy and other European nations, it is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. Until the late 1970 ...

'' named Abril y Costello as a possible candidate for the papacy because he combined experience in both Latin American and the

. The newspaper also reported that before the conclave Abril served as a mediator in discussions between factions of cardinals representing Latin America and others looking for a pope from outside the Curia. On 15 January 2014, he was named to a five-year term as a member of the Commission of Cardinals overseeing the

Institute for the Works of Religion An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

(IOR), commonly known as the Vatican Bank, and on 4 March 2014, the members of that Commission elected him as their president. His curial appointments ended when he reached the age of 80, as did his right to vote in a papal conclave. On 28 December 2016, Pope Francis accepted his resignation as Archpriest and appointed Cardinal

Stanislaw Rylko Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, Kherson Oblast, a coastal village in Ukraine * Stanislaus County, ...

to succeed him. On 4 March 2022, he was elevated to the rank of cardinal priest.

References

External links