Archbishop of Santo Domingo
Francisco Ozoria Acosta was born on October 10, 1951, in Nagua, in the Diocese of San Francisco de Macorís, Dominican Republic. He completed his primary education at the Payita and Mercedes Bello schools in his hometown of Nagua, and his secondary studies at the San Pio X Seminary in Licey al Medio, Santiago de los Caballeros. He pursued philosophical studies at the Madre y Maestra University in the Archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros and theological studies at the Pontifical Seminary of Santo Tomás de Aquino in the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo. He was ordained a priest on September 2, 1978, and incardinated into the Diocese of San Francisco de Macorís. Following his ordination, he held the following positions: Director of the diocesan office for priestly vocations in the Diocese of San Francisco de Macorís, while simultaneously serving as Vice-Rector and formator at the Minor Seminary in the Diocese of La Vega (1978–1981); Episcopal Vicar for Pastoral Affairs and Pastor of María Madre de la Iglesia (1981–1988); and, for brief periods, Pastor of San José la Bomba in Cenoví (9 months), San Juan Bautista in Pimentel (13 months), and Santa Ana de San Francisco in the city of San Francisco de Macorís (2 years). In 1988, he was sent to Rome to study at the Pontifical Lateran University, where he obtained a Licentiate in Pastoral Theology in 1990. Upon returning to the Dominican Republic, he served as a formator and professor of Pastoral Theology at the Pontifical Seminary of Santo Tomás de Aquino in the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo (1990–1992). He served as Pastor of the Santísima Trinidad parish in Nagua and the San Francisco de Asís parish in El Factor (1992–1997), as well as temporarily leading the newly created Santiago Apóstol parish in Arroyo al Medio. On February 1, 1997, he was appointed the first Bishop of the new Diocese of San Pedro de Macorís; he took canonical possession of the diocese and received episcopal ordination on March 15 of that same year. Within the Dominican Episcopal Conference, he served as President of the National Commission for the Laity, the National Commission for the Pastoral Care of Human Mobility, the Episcopal Commission for Haitian Pastoral Care, and the Commission for the Pastoral Care of Health Workers. On July 4, 2016, he was promoted to Metropolitan Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo.