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Oskar Andres RodrigesHonduran cardinal. Salesian. Titular bishop.
Date of Birth: 29.12.1942
Country:  Honduras |
Content:
Biography of Oscar Andres Rodriguez
Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, a Honduran cardinal, was born on December 29, 1942 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. He is a member of the Salesian Society and has served as the titular bishop of Pudenziana and auxiliary bishop of Tegucigalpa from October 28, 1978 to January 8, 1993. He also served as the apostolic administrator of the Santa Rosa de Copan diocese from 1981 to 1984. Rodriguez became the archbishop of Tegucigalpa on January 8, 1993 and the apostolic administrator of the San Pedro Sula diocese from 1993 to 1995. Additionally, he served as the general secretary of the Latin American Episcopal Conference (CELAM) from 1987 to 1991 and as the president of CELAM from 1995 to 1999. On February 21, 2001, he was elevated to the position of cardinal-priest with the titular church of Santa Maria della Speranza.
Early Life and Education
Rodriguez was born on December 29, 1942 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. He was the third of four children of Andres Rodriguez Palacios and Raquel Maradiaga. As a young boy, he dreamed of playing the saxophone in a dance orchestra or becoming a pilot. However, he chose to enter religious life instead. He joined the Salesian Society of Saint Francis of Sales (Salesians of Don Bosco) on May 3, 1961. Rodriguez obtained degrees in philosophy and theology and studied classical piano. He is a polyglot, fluent in English, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, and his native Spanish. He studied at Don Rua Institute in San Salvador, the Pontifical Salesian College in Rome, and the Alphonsian Academy of Moral Theology in Rome. He obtained a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome and also holds a diploma in clinical psychology and psychotherapy from Leopold Franzens University in Innsbruck, Austria. He also received advanced training in piano at the Salvadoran Conservatory. He completed his teacher training in El Salvador in 1962 and went on to teach chemistry, physics, and music at Salesian colleges in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala as a Salesian for the next 15 years. During this time, he also became a professor of moral theology and ecclesiology at the Salesian Theological Institute in Guatemala.
Career and Achievements
Alongside Cardinal Sergio Obeso Rivera, Rodriguez is considered one of the most educated and intellectual cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church. He was ordained a priest on July 28, 1970 in Guatemala City. The ordination was performed by Archbishop Geronimo Prigione, titular archbishop of Lauriaco and apostolic nuncio to Guatemala and El Salvador. He was appointed as an auxiliary bishop of Tegucigalpa in the same year.
Rodriguez taught music, chemistry, theology, and ecclesiology at Salesian educational institutions. He served as the rector of the Salesian Theological Institute in Guatemala from 1975 to 1978. On October 28, 1978, he was appointed as the titular bishop of Pudenziana and auxiliary bishop of Tegucigalpa. He was consecrated as a bishop on December 8, 1978 in Tegucigalpa by Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, the apostolic nuncio to Honduras, with the assistance of Archbishop Hector Enrique Santos Hernández of Tegucigalpa and Archbishop Miguel Obando Bravo of Managua. He served as the apostolic administrator of the Santa Rosa de Copan diocese from 1981 to 1984. He became the archbishop of Tegucigalpa on January 8, 1993 and the apostolic administrator of the San Pedro Sula diocese from 1993 to 1995. Rodriguez also held the positions of general secretary of the Latin American Episcopal Conference (CELAM) from 1987 to 1991 and president of CELAM from 1995 to 1999.
On January 21, 2001, he was elevated to the rank of cardinal-priest in the consistory by Pope John Paul II, with the titular church of Santa Maria della Speranza. He is the first cardinal from Honduras. Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga is widely regarded as a moderate leader and rising star in the Latin American Church. His advocacy for human rights and the poor has garnered widespread praise. He is admired as an active prelate, serving as a mediator in peace agreements with rebels and working on post-disaster recovery efforts. He is also a vocal supporter of debt relief for third-world countries. In addition to his episcopal duties, he currently serves as the president of the Episcopal Conference of Honduras. Rodriguez Maradiaga was one of the cardinal-electors who participated in the papal conclave of 2005, which elected Pope Benedict XVI.
