Antonio Cañizares Llovera

Antonio Cañizares Llovera (born 10 October 1945) is a Spanish Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who is the current Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, having previously served as Archbishop of Toledo and Primate of Spain from 2002 to 2008. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2006. 
==Early life==
Antonio Cañizares was born in Utiel, and studied at the minor and major seminaries in Valencia and at the Pontifical University of Salamanca, from where he obtained his doctorate in theology, specializing in catechesis. He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop José García Lahiguera on 21 June 1970, and then served as assistant pastor and delegate for catechesis in the Archdiocese of Valencia.
Following his transfer to the Archdiocese of Madrid, Cañizares taught catechetical theology at the University of Salamanca and fundamental theology at the Conciliar Seminary of Madrid. He later became the director and a professor of the Institute of Religious Science and Catechesis in Madrid, and sat on several commissions and secretariats of the Spanish Episcopal Conference as well. From 1985 to 1992, Cañizares served as director of the Secretariat of the Episcopal Commission for the Doctrine of the Faith. He also founded and was the first president of Asociación Española de Catequistas, and was Director of the review Teología y Catequesis.
==Bishop==
On 6 March 1992, Cañizares was appointed as Bishop of Ávila by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on the following 25 April from Archbishop Mario Tagliaferri, with Cardinals Ángel Suquía Goicoechea and Marcelo González Martín serving as co-consecrators, in the Cathedral of Ávila. Cañizares Llovera later became a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Roman Curia on 10 November 1996, and was named Archbishop of Granada on 10 December of that same year. In addition to his duties in Granada, he was Apostolic Administrator of Cartagena from January to October 1998, and made President of the Episcopal Commission of Education and Catechesis in 1999.
Cañizares Llovera was promoted to Archbishop of Toledo, and thus Primate of Spain, on 24 October 2002. He was elected Vice-President of the Spanish Episcopal Conference as well. Pope Benedict XVI created him Cardinal-Priest of San Pancrazio in the consistory of 24 March 2006. The Spanish primate was awarded a doctorate honoris causa from the Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera on that same date. He will be eligible to participate in any future papal conclaves until he reaches the age of eighty on 10 October 2025.
==Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments==
On 9 December 2008, Pope Benedict appointed him Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments; Cañizares succeeded Francis Arinze, who had served in the post since 2002.
He has been a member of Real Academia de la Historia de España since November 2007. Cañizares is sometimes known by his nickname of "Little Ratzinger,"Zenit. The "Little Ratzinger" on His Upcoming Duty March 1, 2006 referring to the similar beliefs and opinions between him and Benedict XVI, born Joseph Ratzinger, who himself is aware of and "very amused by this expression."Ibid.
==Views==
===On receiving the Holy Communion===
In response to an interview in December 2008 Cardinal Cañizares Llovera stated regarding the best way to receive the Eucharist: "What does it mean to receive communion in the mouth? What does it mean to kneel before the Most Holy Sacrament? What does it mean to kneel during the consecration at Mass? It means adoration, it means recognizing the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist; it means respect and an attitude of faith of a man who prostrates before God because he knows that everything comes from Him, and we feel speechless, dumbfounded, before the wondrousness, his goodness, and his mercy. That is why it is not the same to place the hand, and to receive communion in any fashion, than doing it in a respectful way; it is not the same to receive communion kneeling or standing up, because all these signs indicate a profound meaning."
===On Summorum Pontificum and Tridentine Mass===
In regard to the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, Cañizares Llovera has stated, "[The] intention of the Pope has not only been to satisfy the followers of Monsignor Lefevbre, nor to confine himself to respond to the just wishes of the faithful who feel attached...to the liturgical heritage represented by the Roman Rite, but also, and in a special way, to open the liturgical richness of the Church to all the faithful, thus making possible the discovery of the treasures of the liturgical patrimony of the Church to those who still do not know it...even if there were not a single 'traditionalist' whom to satisfy, this 'discovery' would have been enough to justify the provisions of the Pope."
===Abortion and child abuse===
Speaking in the context of an abortion debate prompted by a Spanish government proposal, the Cardinal said: “What happened in some schools cannot be compared with the millions of lives that have been destroyed by abortion. It has legally destroyed 40 million human lives.” Abortion worse than child abuse, says Vatican figure
== References ==
==External links==
*Catholic-Hierarchy
*Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church
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Category:1945 births
Category:Living people
Category:People from Requena-Utiel
Category:Spanish cardinals
Category:Spanish Roman Catholics
Category:20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops
Category:21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops
Category:Archbishops of Toledo
Category:Roman Catholic primates
Category:Pontifical University of Salamanca alumni
Category:Knights Grand Cross of Justice of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
Category:Members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Category:Members of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
Category:Cardinals created by Pope Benedict XVI
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