Antonio María Javierre Ortas

Who was Antonio María Javierre Ortas?

Antonio María Javierre Ortas S.D.B. was a cardinal of the Catholic Church, and former prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in the Vatican.

Javierre Ortas was born in Siétamo, Spain. He was ordained in 1949 and took his doctorate in theology in Louvain. For many years he lectured in fundamental theology and dogmatics in places such as Turin, Rome, Peru, Guatemala and Poland. During the Second Vatican Council he was a spokesman for the Spanish bishops in ecumenical questions.

In 1976 Pope Paul VI made him archbishop, and secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education. He became cardinal deacon in 1988, and became at the same time, the librarian and archivist of the Holy Roman Church. In 1992 he was elevated to cardinal priest and prefect for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, which he took care of until 1996. He died in 2007 in Rome.

In 1992, he allowed the existence of female altar servers in the Church, a decision that was somewhat controversial because the practice had previously been banned by his curial congregation, given that having a greater number of male altar servers can attract a greater number of candidates to the priesthood.