Pope sends condolences for death of Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragán

By Vatican News staff reporter

Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragán, Archbishop-Bishop emeritus of Zacatecas (Mexico) passed away in Rome in the early hours of Wednesday, 20 April, at the age of 89.

Pope Francis expressed his condolences for the Cardinal's death with a telegram sent Wednesday evening to Bishop Javier Navarro Rodriquez of Zamora.

The Pope praised the "devoted prelate who honoured me with his friendship since 1980 and who faithfully gave his life to the service of God and the Universal Church for many years."

He also prayed for the repose of the soul of the late Cardinal Lozano Barragán.

With his death, the number of cardinals worldwide stands at 210, including 117 electors and 93 non-electors.

Brief biography

Cardinal Lozano Barragán was born on 26 January 1933 in Toluca, Mexico.

He studied at the diocesan seminary of Zamora and was ordained a priest in 1955. After obtaining a Doctorate in Dogmatic Theology from the Gregorian University in Rome, he returned to Mexico, and in the 1970s he served as president of the Mexican Theological Society, and subsequently of the Theological Pastoral Institute of the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM).

In 1979, he was appointed auxiliary bishop the Archdiocese of Mexico, where he served until 1984 and was one of the co-founders of the Pontifical University of Mexico. He participated in a number of Synods of Bishops, including the Synod on the Family in 1980, where he was General Secretary.  

Created Cardinal in 2003

From 1984 to 1997, he was Bishop of the Diocese of Zacatecas. He subsequently worked as a member of a number of Roman Curia dicasteries, including the Pontifical Council for Dialogue with Non-believers (which later became the Pontifical Council for Culture), the Congregation for Bishops and Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and as councillor of the Pontifical Commission for America.

In 1996, Pope St. John Paul II appointed him president of the  Pontifical Council for Healthcare Workers (Pastoral Health Care), and on 7 January 1997 granted him the personal title of Archbishop.

St. John Paul II also created him Cardinal in the Consistory of 21 October 2003, and in April 2005 Cardinal Lozano Barragán participated in the Conclave that elected Benedict XVI.

He ceased active service in 2009, when he became President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Healthcare Workers.

40th anniversary of episcopal ministry

In August 2019, Cardinal Lozano Barragán celebrated his 40 years of episcopal ministry in Mexico, in the company of friends and family.

While presiding over a special Mass for the occasion in the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, he summarized those years with one word: "gift“.

“Everything was a gift and now I give this gift  away by writing, sharing the experiences I built on the foundations of what was and is my beloved diocese of origin, the diocese of Zamora," he said.