Joaquín Mariano Sucunza
Joaquín Mariano Sucunza (15 February 1946) is an Argentine prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires since 2000.
Life
[edit]Born in Pamplona, Spain, to a family of shepherds based in Lecumberri in the Navarra region[1] on 15 February 1946,[2] Sucunza moved with his family to Argentina, arriving on 11 December 1948.[1] He completed all his studies for the priesthood at the Buenos Aires seminary. He was ordained to the priesthood on 27 November 1971. He fulfilled a series parish assignments over the next three decades and was named episcopal vicar for the central zone of Buenos Aires in 1998.[2]
On 22 July 2000, Pope John Paul II appointed him auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires and titular bishop of Saetabis.[2] Sucunza received his episcopal consecration on the following 21 October[3] from Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires (later Pope Francis), with Mario José Serra, Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires, and Guillermo Leaden, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus, serving as co-consecrators.
Bergoglio gave him increasing responsibility, naming him moderator of the curia on 12 December 2000, vicar general on 27 April 2002, and episcopal vicar for economic affairs on 3 June 2008.[3]
He serves as head of the Economic Affairs Council of the Episcopal Conference of Argentina from 2017 to 2020.[4][3]
He was vicar general of the Archdiocese when Archbishop Bergoglio was elected to the papacy,[5] and the administrators of the archdiocese chose him to head the Archdiocese until Bergoglio named a successor.[4] Sucunza reported that Pope Francis called him the day after his election and they spoke for 45 minutes. He quoted Francis as saying of the papal election: "When I saw that the number was already irreversible as the votes were counted, I imagined I was dying, ... a very rare thing, inside of me. When that brief moment passed, I felt different. I do not know what happened to me, but I felt different."[1]
In addition to participating with the other Argentine bishops in ad limina visits with the pope, he had a personal visit with Pope Francis on 22 November 2018.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Joaquín Sucunza: "Francisco va cuatro años por delante de la jerarquía de la Iglesia"". Religíon Digital (Interview) (in Spanish). 27 September 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ a b c "Rinunce e Nomine, 22.07.2000" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 22 July 2000. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ a b c "Obispo Auxiliares". Archbishopric of Buenos Aires (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ a b "Nuevo Papa: Bergoglio ya tiene reemplazo interino en la arquidiócesis porteña". Clarín (in Spanish). 21 March 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ Ruchansky, Emilio (14 March 2013). "Un día inimaginable a plena Catedral". Pagina 12 (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ "Audiences, 23.11.2018" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. 23 November 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
External links
[edit]
- catholic-hierarchy.org, Bishop Joaquín Mariano Sucunza[self-published source]