Ángel Suquía Goicoechea

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Styles of
Angel Cardinal Suquía Goicoechea
Reference style His Eminence
Spoken style Your Eminence
Informal style Cardinal
See Madrid


His Eminence Angel Cardinal Suquía Goicoechea (2 October 1916 - 13 July 2006) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Madrid from 1983 until 1994.

He was educated at the Christian Brothers at La Salle, Beasain, from 1925 until 1927. He entered the Minor Seminary of Saturrarán, Motrico, Guipúzcoa, and remained there until 1931, whereupon he entered the Major Seminary of Vitoria, until 1936. When the Spanish Civil War started in 1936, he was destined to the fort of Guadalupe as a soldiers' instructor. In 1939, he travelled to the Benedictine monastery of Maria Laach in Germany, to study liturgy but when the Second World War started in that same year, he quickly returned to Spain. He entered the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1946 remaining there until 1949 where he obtained a doctorate in theology with the highest grades with his thesis on La santa Misa en la espiritualidad de San Ignacio de Loyola.

He was ordained to the priesthood on 7 July 1940. On 17 May 1966 Pope Paul VI appointed him to be the Bishop of Almeria. He served as bishop of Málaga from 1969-1973. He became Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela on 13 April 1973. On 12 April 1983 he was chosen to succeed Vicente Cardinal Enrique y Tarancon as Archbishop of Madrid by Pope John Paul II.

On 25 May 1985 he was created and proclaimed Cardinal-Priest of Gran Madre di Dio. He remained at the see of Madrid until 1994 when he reached that age of 77.

Preceded by
Vicente Cardinal Enrique y Tarancon
Archbishop of Madrid
12 April 198328 July 1994
Succeeded by
Antonio Cardinal Rouco Varela