Archbishop of México
Msgr. Carlos Aguiar Retes, archbishop of Tlalnepantla, Mexico was born in 1950 in Tepic. He studied at the seminary of Tepic, continuing at the seminary of Montezuma in the United States of America, and Tula. Subsequently he obtained a licentiate in sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome and a doctorate in biblical theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University. He was ordained a priest in 1973. He subsequently served as parish vicar, rector of the seminary of Tepic and at the same time chairman of the Organisation of Mexican Seminaries (OSMEX) and member of the Executive Council of Latin American Seminaries. He was then rector of the John XXIII residence for priests at the Pontifical University of Mexico, and professor of sacred Scripture in the same university. In 1997 he was appointed bishop of Texcoco and received episcopal ordination the same year. In 2009 Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as metropolitan archbishop of Tlalnepantla. From 2006 to 2012 he was president of the Episcopal Conference of Mexico, having served as secretary general from 2004 to 2006. He has held several positions in the CELAM (Latin American Episcopal Council): secretary general from 2000 to 2003; first vice-president from 2003 to 2007, and then president from 2011 to 2015. In October 2014 and then also in October 2015 Pope Francis called on him to participate in the two respective assemblies of the Synod of Bishops on the family.