Msgr. Fernando Ocáriz was born in Paris, France, on October 27th born in 1944, son of a Spanish family exiled in France during the Civil War (1936-1939). He is the youngest of eight siblings. On the occasion of his birthday we make a brief review of his life.

He holds a degree in Physical Sciences from the University of Barcelona (1966) and in Theology from the Pontifical Lateran University (1969). He obtained his doctorate in Theology, in 1971, at the University of Barcelona (1966). University of Navarra. That same year it was ordained priest. In his first years as a priest, he dedicated himself especially to youth and university ministry.

Consultant in various dicasteries

He has been a consultor to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith since 1986 (when it was Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) and to the Dicastery for Evangelization since 2022 (previously, since 2011, to the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization). From 2003 to 2017 he was a consultor to the then Congregation for the Clergy.

In 1989 he joined the Pontifical Theological Academy. In the eighties, he was one of the professors who initiated the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (Rome), where he was ordinary professor (now emeritus) of Fundamental Theology.

Some of his publications are: The mystery of Jesus Christ: a Christology and Soteriology textbook; Children of God in Christ. An introduction to a theology of supernatural participation.. Other volumes deal with theological and philosophical topics such as Loving with works: God and mankind; Nature, grace and glory, with a preface by Cardinal Ratzinger.

In 2013 a book interview by Rafael Serrano was published under the title. On God, the Church and the world. Among his works are two studies in philosophy: Marxism: theory and practice of a revolution; Voltaire: Treatise on tolerance.. He is also co-author of numerous monographs, and author of numerous theological and philosophical articles.

Grand Chancellor of the PUSC and UNAV

The Prelate is also, by virtue of his office, Grand Chancellor of the University of Navarra and the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. He is the fourth, after St. Josemaría (until 1975) -founder and first Chancellor of the University-, Blessed Álvaro del Portillo (1975-1994) and Javier Echevarría (1994-2016).

Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz has dedicated many years of study and work to theology. To the point that this activity has marked his way of being. He is a friend of reason, of logic and arguments, of clarity. He has published books and articles on God, the Church and the world, with that breadth of vision that a theological gaze provides.

He shows an open spirit in the debates: I have heard him say, for example, that «heresies are wrong solutions to real problems», thus encouraging to accept the existence of the problems, to understand those who detect them and to look for acceptable alternative solutions.

In addition to being a theologian, he is a university professor. A professor since he was very young, those who have attended his classes affirm that he usually achieves the most difficult thing: to make the complex understandable. He knows how to explain and how to listen. He has the patience of a good teacher, who every year has to start from scratch with students who arrive with little knowledge and many questions.

From the Roman watchtower

Much of the theological work of Fernando Ocáriz has been developed within the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, where he has been a consultor since 1986. For twenty years he worked closely with the then Cardinal Ratzinger, prefect of that Congregation, on issues of dogmatics, Christology and ecclesiology. A work that requires science and also prudence. And, as usually happens to those who work in the Vatican, the work of consultant brings a deep ecclesial sense. Rome is a vantage point from which the Church is known in breadth and depth. One of the documents he presented at the Vatican was precisely the one dedicated to the Church as communion, in 1992.

In addition to being a teacher of university and Vatican consultant, Fernando Ocáriz has worked at the headquarters of Opus Dei, always in the field of theology, formation and catechesis. First with St. Josemaría, then with Álvaro del Portillo and finally with Javier Echevarría. He was the latter's closest collaborator for twenty-two years. In this sense it can be said that he knows well the reality of Opus Dei in the last half century.

Your personal signature

In addition to these data of his profile, what is Fernando Ocáriz like? He has a serene character and an easy manner, friendly and smiling, he is not a friend of verbiage. From him you can learn something about the art of writing. He often says that in order to improve a text it is almost always best to shorten it, to prune the excess, repeated, imprecise words. Something similar has been written by the Italian writer Leonardo Sciascia.

It is not surprising to learn that the Congregation counted on his help for the publication of the Compendium of the Catechism, the Catholic Church, excellent synthesis of a much longer text. What is written in this article, he would have said it more briefly.

At his age, he still plays sports, especially tennis. He maintains the qualities of the sportsman: no matter the effort, noblesse oblige, it is not worth giving up. Theologians can also have a sporting spirit. From the University of Navarra we have conveyed to him our desire to support him in whatever way we can. In the end, almost everything in this life is a team effort.

Juan Manuel Mora García de Lomas, consultant and professor of the PUSC. Published in Nuestro Tiempo.

St. John Paul II, the traveling Pope, left an indelible mark on the history of the Catholic Church and the entire world. In order to understand the magnitude of his pontificate and his person, we must be familiar with the most important dates in the life of St. John Paul IIThe Pope's pontificate, those key moments that marked his path from his native Poland to the Holy See. On October 16, we commemorate the anniversary of the beginning of his pontificate back in 1978.

Join us in this chronological journey through the life of this great saint who inspired the creation of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, where more than a thousand seminarians, diocesan priests and religious men and women from all over the world are trained each year, who then return to their countries of origin to train others.

Early years and the priesthood

The life of Karol Wojtyła, the first name of St. John Paul II, was marked from the beginning by the great events of the 20th century and by a very difficult childhood. His youth was forged between the Nazi occupation and the subsequent Soviet domination of Poland, experiences that profoundly shaped his character and his faith.

• July 7, 1916: Olga Wojtyła, his older sister, died shortly after birth (before Karol was born).
• May 18, 1920: Karol Józef Wojtyła born in Wadowicea small town near Krakow, Poland.
• April 13, 1929Emilia Kaczorowska, his mother, dies when Karol is 8 years old. There he decides to ask the Virgin Mary to adopt him and take care of him as a mother.
• December 4, 1932Edmund Wojtyła, the older brother and physician, died of scarlet fever. Karol was 12 years old.
• June 1938enrolled in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow to study Polish philology.
• February 18, 1941His father Karol Wojtyła died when he was 20 years old.
• October 1942: he entered the clandestine seminary founded by Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapiehathen Archbishop of Krakow. 
• November 1, 1946: in a country recovering from the wounds of World War II, he was ordained a priest in the private chapel of the Archbishop of Krakow.
• July 4, 1958: appointed auxiliary bishop of Krakow by Pope Pius XII, becoming the youngest bishop in Poland.
• January 13, 1964: appointed archbishop of Krakow, assuming a leadership role at a time of great tension between the Church and the communist regime.
• June 26, 1967: Pope Paul VI created him a cardinal, recognizing his courageous defense of the faith and human rights.

To delve deeper into these early years, we recommend this video that summarizes his life:

John Paul II, a pontificate that changed lives

The election of a non-Italian cardinal surprised the world and marked the beginning of one of the longest and most significant pontificates in history, lasting 26 years, 5 months and 18 days. The most important dates of the pontificate of St. John Paul II are numerous and of great significance, some of which are highlighted below:

• October 16, 1978: Cardinal Karol Wojtyła is elected Pope. He chooses the name John Paul II. Becomes the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.
• May 13, 1981: suffers a serious attack in St. Peter's Square, when Mehmet Ali Ağca shoots him during an audience. John Paul II attributed his survival to the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima. Years later, he would visit his assailant in prison to forgive him.
• August 12, 1985: It institutes World Youth Day (WYD), an international gathering of young people with the Pope that is held every three years in different parts of the world and has become a classic event for teenagers and young believers and non-believers from all over the world.

Apostolic journeys

In his almost 27 years of pontificate John Paul II made a total of 240 trips on the five continents: 104, outside Italy; and 146, carried out in Italy. If we translate this into kilometers: 1,247,613 kilometers, or 3.24 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon. The circumference of the Earth is about 40,075 km, this distance is equivalent to 31.13 laps to the planet.

In this video we leave you some of his most significant moments and gestures:

The last years of a saint

The last years of his life were marked by Parkinson's disease, which he bore with a fortitude that touched the world. Despite his physical limitations, he continued his mission to the end.

• April 2, 2005: dies in his rooms at the Vatican. Millions of faithful flock to Rome to bid him farewell in one of the most crowded funerals in history. The cry Santo Subito (Holy now!) resounded in St. Peter's Square.
• May 1, 2011: His successor, Pope Benedict XVI, beatified him in a multitudinous ceremony, recognizing his heroic virtues and a miracle attributed to his intercession.
• April 27, 2014: is canonized by Pope Francis in a historic ceremony together with another Pope, St. John XXIII. The Church officially inscribes him in the book of saints.

Encyclicals of great theological content

Here is a list of the encyclicals that St. John Paul II published during his pontificate, 14 in total. It includes the Latin name, the main theme and the year of publication:

To know the most important dates of St. John Paul II immerses us in the life of an essential figure for understanding the 20th century; a man who lived and brought the Gospel to every corner of the planet with a message of hope, love and the defense of human dignity.