Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela
Archbishop-elect José Prieto Fernández was born on 18 August 1968 in Orense. He attended the major seminary of Orense and obtained a bachelor’s degree in theology from the Faculty of Theology of the Universidad de Navarra in 1992, and a licentiate in patristic theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He was ordained a priest on 26 June 1993. He has held the following offices: parish vicar of Santa Teresita (1994-1995); formator of the minor seminary (1995-1996); parish administrator in various communities (1996-2001 and 2008-2009); chaplain of the San José Monastery (2004-2020); parish vicar of San Pio X (2009-2020); and episcopal vicar for new evangelization (2012-2020). Within the university sphere, he has served as adjunct professor at the Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca (1995-1996), professor at the Theological Institute of Orense (2007-2019), director of the Distance Theological Centre (1998-2020) and director of the Diocesan School of Theology (2009-2012). He was appointed titular bishop of Vergi and auxiliary of Santiago de Compostela on 28 January 2021, and consecrated the following 10 April. Within the Episcopal Conference he is a member of the Episcopal Commission for Social Communications and of the Sub-Commission for Cultural Heritage.