Bishop of Soacha
Bishop Juan Carlos Barreto Barreto, Bishop of Soacha, Colombia, was born in El Guamo, Tolima, on 26 December 1968. He was ordained a priest on 30 January 1993 for the Diocese of El Espinal. He studied philosophy and theology at the Holy Spirit Missionary Seminary in La Ceja, Antioquia. At the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome he obtained a licentiate in Spiritual Theology. At the Fundación Universitaria Católica del Norte he obtained a licentiate in philosophy and religious education. He has held the following pastoral offices: pastor in Divino Niño and in Nuestra Señora de Chiquinquirá parish; diocesan delegate for the Missionary Childhood; formator and rector of La Providencia Major Seminary of the diocese of El Espinal from 2009 to 2021. On 30 January 2013 Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Bishop of the Diocese of Quibdó. On 9 March 2013, in the Cathedral of Nuestra Señora del Rosario of El Espinal, he received episcopal ordination from Bishop Pablo Emiro Salas Anteliz, Bishop of El Espinal. On 16 March of the same year he took possession of the see in Quibdó. In July 2021 he was elected by the CXI Plenary Assembly of the Episcopate as president of the Episcopal Commission for Social Pastoral Ministry - Caritas Colombia. On 25 April 2022 Pope Francis appointed him Bishop of the Diocese of Soacha, Cundinamarca. He took possession of the see on 25 June 2022.