Archbishop of Caracas
Raúl Biord Castillo, S.D.B., is Cardinal-Deacon of Nostra Signora di Coromoto in San Giovanni di Dio. He was born in Caracas, Venezuela, on 23 October 1962. He obtained a licentiate in theology at the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome and a doctorate in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He made his first religious profession as a Salesian on 16 August 1980 and perpetual profession on 8 September 1987. He was ordained a priest on 15 July 1989. He held the following offices: parochial vicar in the parish of San Juan Bosco in Caracas, chaplain of religious sisters in Los Teques, professor at the Institute of Theology for Religious (ITER) in Caracas, and professor and rector of the Salesian University Institute P. Ojeda (IUSPO) in Los Teques. From 2004 he was provincial vicar of the Salesian Society of Saint John Bosco in Venezuela.