Jorge Mayer

Who was Jorge Mayer?

Jorge Mayer was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Bahía Blanca, Argentina from 1972 to 1991.

He was born in San Miguel, Buenos Aires Province. Ordained a priest on 24 March 1940, he was named bishop of the Diocese of Santa Rosa, La Pampa Province, on 9 July 1957. On 31 May 1972 Pope Paul VI appointed him Archbishop of Bahía Blanca, succeeding Germiniano Esorto.

He took over in a formal Mass on 21 July 1972 until he resigned to his Pastoral task on 31 May 1991, upon turning 80 years of age, as established by the Pope. He was succeeded by Rómulo García, becoming then Archbishop Emeritus, where he continued working actively as of 2006, despite his age. Mayer spoke both Spanish and German as he was born in a colony of Volga German settlers in Argentina, as well as Italian, among other languages. During the 1980s and 1990s he led many groups of pilgrims from Bahía Blanca to Israel.