Monsignor Jorge Enrique Jiménez Carvajal became a cardinal in the August 2022 consistory, when he was already 80 years old. While he was very grateful to the Pope, he confessed that he did not understand why he was made a cardinal instead of someone else.
CARD. JORGE JIMENEZ CARVAJAL
I have been a priest for 56 years and have moved around a lot. I have been to all the Latin American countries through my service with CELAM. And I know many people who could become cardinals—many people.
Until 2021, he was Archbishop of Cartagena de Indias. For four years, he was Secretary General of CELAM—the Latin American Episcopal Council—and President for the next four years. He accompanied the Pope on his visit to Colombia in 2017, where he encouraged young people to look to the future with hope.
CARD. JORGE JIMÉNEZ CARVAJAL
In the Lumen Gentium, Vatican II invites us to be attentive to the signs of the times. The times are changing, they are bringing us new challenges. And from these signs, we can do something that serves humanity or that goes against humanity. So here comes a very interesting piece of help from the Gospel—Jesus taught us to discover the signs of God within the signs of the times.
In 2002, he was kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, together with Fr. Desiderio Orjuela. They were only held for eight days because the Colombian army freed them. But the experience impacted him.
CARD. JORGE JIMENEZ CARVAJAL
A kidnapping is a very, very important experience in the life of every man, of every woman. There is no one who can say: “I was calm in a kidnapping.” That is a lie.
As he was made a Cardinal at the age of 80, he is not eligible to vote in a future conclave and is five years over the age limit for leading a dicastery. His appointment is an example of a life of service to the Church.
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