Jorge Medina Estévez

infobox cardinalbiog
name = Jorge Medina Estévez


See =
Title = Cardinal
Period =
cardinal = February 21, 1998
Predecessor =
Successor =
post =
date of birth = Birth date and age|1926|12|23|mf=y
place of birth = Santiago, Chile|

Jorge Arturo Agustín Medina Estévez (born December 23, 1926, in Santiago, Chile) is a Chilean Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was Cardinal Protodeacon until February 23, 2007, and is Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. He is a controversial and polarizing figure in Chile, known for his ultraconservatism and his close ties to fomer dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Life and Ministry

Medina was born in Santiago in 1926, and studied at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (where he received a baccalaureate in the arts and biology) and the Major Seminary of Santiago. He was ordained a priest on June 12, 1954, by Bishop Pio Fariña Fariña, the vicar general and an auxiliary bishop of Santiago. Earning a doctorate in theology in 1955, Medina taught philosophy and theology at the Major Seminary of Santiago and of the Pontifical Catholic University, respectively. He also served as a dean of the university, and as a peritus at the Second Vatican Council; for the latter he later received a "honoris causa" doctorate from the University of Notre Dame in 1996.

Pro-Grand Chancellor of the Catholic University from 1974 to 1985, he was named titular bishop of "Thibilis" and auxiliary bishop of Rancagua on December 18, 1984. Medina was consecrated to the episcopate on January 6, 1985 by Pope John Paul II himself, with Cardinals Eduardo Martínez Somalo and Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy acting as co-consecrators. He was made Bishop of Rancagua on November 25, 1987 and then Bishop of Valparaíso on April 16, 1993. He was appointed Pro-Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments on June 21, 1996, resigning from his post in Valparaíso on the same day.

Medina was created a Cardinal Deacon in the consistory of February 21, 1998, with the title of "San Saba". He was Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments from February 23, 1998, until his retirement on October 1, 2002.Infobox cardinalstyles
cardinal name=Jorge Medina
dipstyle=His Eminence
offstyle=Your Eminence
relstyle=
See=Valparaíso (emeritus)|Medina was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave, and, following the conclusion of the conclave, as Cardinal Protodeacon (the senior-most cardinal deacon), he had the honor of announcing to the world the election of Pope Benedict XVI with the famous "Habemus Papam" formula; as protodeacon, Cardinal Medina also imposed the petrine pallium on Pope Benedict XVI.

Cardinal Medina lost his right to participate in any future conclaves after December 23, 2006, when he turned 80 years of age. After his 80th anniversary he went back to Chile in order to help as a priest in a parish. On March 1, 2008, he was elevated to Cardinal-Priest. His titular deaconry San Saba was elevated pro hac vice to title..

The voice of Jorge Medina Estévez

multi-listen item|filename=HabemuspapamBXVI.ogg
title=Habemus Papam of Pope Benedict XVI |description=Jorge Arturo Medina Estévez announcing the election of Joseph Ratzinger as Benedict XVI (April 19, 2005)|format=Ogg

Trivia

* His Eminence is a "Doctor Scientiae et honoris causa" from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.
* He is also a Chaplain "ad honorem" of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta.

External links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2koVqoTZXo Cardinal Jorge Medina Estévez announces Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) as the new Pope.]