| Birth: | Jul. 26, 1914 | | Death: | Oct. 14, 2004 | 
Cardinal Juan Francisco Fresno Larraín, Former Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Santiago de Chile and Cardinal Priest of the Title of Santa Maria Immacolata di Lourdes a Boccea, was born on July 26, 1914, in Santiago de Chile, Chile, to Luis Alfredo Fresno Ingunza and Elena Larraín Hurtado, and received his Education at the Diocesan Seminary of Santiago de Chile, and later at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, from where he obtained his Licentiate in Theology.
Ordained to the Priesthood on December 18, 1937, in the Cathedral of Santiago, by Msgr. Horacio Campillo, Archbishop of the See of Santiago, he successively performed Pastoral Work in Santiago between 1937 and 1958, serving among others as Spiritual Director and Vice - Director of the Minor Seminary, Counselor of National Catholic Action for Youth and Pro - Synodal Judge.
Aged 44, he was appointed as Bishop of the Diocese of Copiapó, receiving his Episcopal Consecrated on August 15, 1958, in the Parish Church of Santos Angeles Custodios, in Santiago, from Msgr. Alfredo Cifuentes Gómez, Archbishop of the See of La Serena, assisted by Msgr. José Manuel Santos Ascarza OCD., Bishop of the Diocese of Valdivia, and by Msgr. Francisco de Borja Valenzuela Ríos, Bishop of the See of Antofagasta.
Promoted to the Metropolitan See of La Serena on July 28, 1971, he was elected as President of the Episcopal Conference of Chile in 1975. Transferred to the Metropolitan See of Santiago de Chile on May 3, 1983, following the retirement of Cardinal Raúl Silva Henríquez SDB., he played a key role in the efforts to restore Democracy in Chile during the Military Dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. He made contact with Opposition Leaders and persuaded them to unite in a Pro - Democracy effort that included Marxists and the Democratic Right. He then promoted their first tense contacts with the Government and was one of the supporters of Acuerdo Nacional para la Transición a la Democracia Plena - The National Agreement for the Transition to Full Democracy. This led to the 1988 Plebiscite that marked the beginning of the end of the Military Regime.
Pope John Paul II created Monsignor Fresno Larraín, Cardinal Priest in the Consistory of May 25, 1985, with the Title of Santa Maria Immacolata di Lourdes a Boccea. Resigning the Pastoral Government of the Archdiocese on March 30, 1990, the Cardinal served as Rector of the Sagrada Familia Chapel in La Dehesa, known as Las Pataguas Chapel, for over six years until his death, which occurred on October 14, 2004, at 8.50 pm., of a general renal insufficency, aged 90, in his private residence in Santiago. He was buried in the Crypt of the the Metropolitan Cathedral of Santiago, following a Eucharistic Celebration and the dignity of a State Funeral.
| | | Burial:
Metropolitan Cathedral
Santiago
Santiago Metropolitan, Chile
Plot: Archbishopric Crypt. |
Created by: Eman Bonnici
Record added: Oct 18, 2008
Find A Grave Memorial# 30659177 |
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It Was You, O God, Who Made Your Servant Cardinal Fresno, A Successor Of The Apostles By Raising Him To The Episcopal Order. May He Also Be Associated With Them Forever. We Ask This Through Our Lord, Jesus Christ, Your Son. Amen.
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Eman Bonnici
Added: Jul. 20, 2011 |
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Becky Monday
Added: Nov. 24, 2008 |
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empty pages
Added: Oct. 26, 2008 |
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