Santos Abril y Castelló

Who is Santos Abril y Castelló?

Santos Abril y Castelló is the archpriest of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore since his appointment on 21 November 2011. He was elected by his fellow members of the Commission of Cardinals of the Institute of Works of Religion as their President on Tuesday, 4 March 2014; he continues his other duties.

Abril y Castelló was born in Alfambra, Spain. 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. He attended the elite Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome. He worked in Pakistan, Turkey and the Second Section of the Secretariat of State in Rome.

On 29 April 1985 he was appointed by Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Nuncio to Bolivia and Titular Archbishop of Tamada. He received episcopal ordination on 16 June 1985 by Cardinal Secretary of State Agostino Casaroli. He later served as papal nuncio in other countries: Cameroon, Yugoslavia, Argentina, and Slovenia and Macedonia.