Jorge María Mejía

Jorge María Mejía (31 January 1923 – 9 December 2014) was an Argentine cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church (Roman Rite).[1]

His Eminence

Jorge María Mejía
Archivist of the Vatican Secret Archives
Appointed7 March 1998
Term endedOctober 2003
PredecessorLuigi Poggi
SuccessorJean-Louis Pierre Tauran
Other postsCardinal-Priest of San Girolamo della Carità
Orders
Ordination22 September 1945
Consecration12 April 1986
by Roger Marie Élie Etchegaray
Created cardinal21 February 2001
by Pope John Paul II
RankCardinal-Priest
Personal details
Born(1923-01-31)31 January 1923
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Died9 December 2014(2014-12-09) (aged 91)
Rome, Italy
NationalityArgentinian
DenominationRoman Catholic
Previous post
  • Titular Bishop of Apollonia (1986–1994)
  • Vice President of the Pontifical Commission of Justice and Peace (1986–1994)
  • Titular Archbishop of Apollonia (1994–2001)
  • Secretary of the Congregation for Bishops (1994–1998)
  • Secretary of the College of Cardinals (1994–1998)
  • Librarian of the Vatican Library (1998–2003)
MottoIpse est pax nostra ("He is our peace")
Coat of arms
Styles of
Jorge Mejía
Reference styleHis Eminence
Spoken styleYour Eminence
Informal styleCardinal

Early life and ordination

Mejía was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and ordained to the priesthood for the Metropolitan See of Buenos Aires on 22 September 1945. He taught Sacred Scripture at several universities, participated at the Second Vatican Council as a peritus and was made a Chaplain of His Holiness on 20 September 1978. He held a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) and a license in biblical science from the Pontifical Biblical Institute.

Bishop

On 8 March 1986 Mejía was appointed as titular bishop of Apollonia and an official of the Curial Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. His episcopal consecration took place on 12 April 1986 and was performed by Cardinal Roger Etchegaray with Archbishop Eduardo Martínez Somalo and Bishop Antonio María Javierre Ortas as co-consecrators. On 5 March 1994 Mejía was named Secretary of the Congregation for Bishops and raised to the rank of Archbishop. Five days later, on 10 March 1994, he was appointed Secretary of the College of Cardinals. On 7 March 1998 he became both the archivist and the librarian of the Vatican Secret Archives.

Cardinal

On 21 February 2001 Mejía was appointed as Cardinal-Deacon of San Girolamo della Carità by Pope John Paul II in the consistory. On 24 November 2003 he retired as archivist and librarian of the Vatican Secret Archives. On 21 February 2011 he opted for the order of Cardinal Priest with his former diaconal church elevated to the level of cardinalitial title.[2]

Mejía was 82 at the time of the 2005 papal conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI and thus was not eligible to vote. In January 2010 Mejía led the delegation from the Holy See's Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews meeting for the Commission for Dialogue between Jews and Catholics, the ninth such meeting. From 2013 until his death the following year he sat on the Board of World Religious Leaders for the interfaith dialogue-based organization, the Elijah Interfaith Institute.[3] On 13 March 2013 Mejía suffered a heart attack on the same day his fellow Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as Pope Francis, the 266th pontiff of the Catholic Church.[4] Mejía died in Rome on 9 December 2014 at the age of 91.[5]

References

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Vincenzo Cirrincione
 TITULAR 
Archbishop of Apollonia
8 March 1986 21 February 2001
Succeeded by
Gilberto Jiménez Narváez
Preceded by
Justin Francis Rigali
Secretary of the Congregation for Bishops
5 March 1994 – 7 March 1998
Succeeded by
Francesco Monterisi
Secretary of the College of Cardinals
10 March 1994 – 7 March 1998
Preceded by
Luigi Poggi
Librarian of the Holy Roman Church
7 March 1998 – 24 November 2003
Succeeded by
Jean-Louis Tauran
Archivist of the Holy Roman Church
7 March 1998 – 24 November 2003
Preceded by
Pietro Palazzini
 TITULAR 
Cardinal-Deacon of San Girolamo della Carità
21 February 2001 9 December 2014
Vacant
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