Santos Abril y Castelló was born in Alfambra, Spain, on 21 September 1935 — the date given by the Holy See biography and Wikipedia's article text; the infobox's “1936” appears mistaken. Ordained a priest for Teruel y Albarracín on 19 March 1960, he entered the Holy See's diplomatic service in 1967, serving in Pakistan, Turkey, and the Secretariat of State. Appointed titular Archbishop of Tamada and nuncio to Bolivia in April 1985 (consecrated 16 June by Cardinal Casaroli), he later represented the Holy See in Cameroon, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea (1989), Yugoslavia (1996 — elected dean of the Belgrade diplomatic corps), Argentina (2000), and Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Macedonia (2003–2011).
In January 2011 Benedict XVI named him Vice-Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber, and on 21 November 2011 Archpriest of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, succeeding Cardinal Bernard Law; Francis accepted his resignation on 28 December 2016. From March 2014 he presided over the cardinals' commission overseeing the Institute for the Works of Religion. Benedict XVI created him a cardinal on 18 February 2012, with the deaconry of San Ponziano; he voted in the 2013 conclave, where La Stampa credited him as a mediator among the factions. His motto is Pro Ecclesia cum Petro — “for the Church with Peter.”
Consequential Quotes
We were very astonished by the news because evidently such an announcement is no small thing for the life of the Church.
We received it especially with immense respect, because we know that Benedict XVI has a very profound sense of what the Church is.
Major Works & Initiatives
Archpriest of Santa Maria Maggiore
Five years guarding Rome's Marian basilica.
IOR oversight commission
Presided over the cardinals supervising the Vatican Bank.
Twenty-six years a nuncio
Bolivia, the Balkans, Argentina, Slovenia.
Controversies
On the record
No significant public controversies reported.