Pope Benedict XVI announced on Friday the appointment of a highly educated Jesuit priest as the new bishop of the Fontibon district in Bogota.
Born in Quito, Ecuador in 1951, Juan Vicente Cordoba went on to study philisophy, technology and history at Bogota’s Pontificia Javeriana University, before specializing in clinical psychology at Rome’s Pontificia Gregoriana University.
The clergy has held numerous academic positions during his time in Colombia’s Jesuit order, including rector of San Pedro Claver College in Bucaramanga, and dean of the faculty of medicine at Bogota‘s Pontificia Javeriana University.
Cordoba remains secretary general of the Colombian Episcopal Conference as he replaces Enrique Sarmiento as bishop, who the Vatican confirmed handed in his resignation on the grounds of age.
