César García Magán is, as of today, the new Secretary General of the Spanish Episcopal Conference. The appointment of the auxiliary bishop of Toledo, who prevailed over the other candidates, Fernando Giménez Barriocanal and Arturo P. Ros Murgadas, was approved by the Plenary Assembly of the Spanish bishops on the third day of its 120th meeting.
Following the usual procedureThe three candidates were announced during the afternoon of Tuesday, November 22. Although the list of candidates was scheduled to be made public in the early afternoon, this information was not made public until almost 8:00 p.m., which indicates that the conversations about the candidates to succeed Bishop Luis Argüello took longer than expected.
García Magán becomes the 11th Secretary General of the Spanish Episcopal Conference and the eighth bishop to hold this position. According to the EEC statutes, he will hold the position for the next five years.
The auxiliary bishop of Toledo has an extensive career in the service of the Church. He was born in Madrid in 1962. He was ordained priest in 1986. He holds a degree in Dogmatic Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University and a degree and doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Lateran University.
He also completed his studies at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. In addition to his pastoral work in Toledo, as parochial vicar of Santa Barbara, in Toledo, and secretary to the auxiliary bishop, García Magán has served in the Holy See, first as an official of the Secretariat of State (section for General Affairs), and at the same time as chaplain of the Franciscan Missionaries of the Mother of the Divine Shepherd. Subsequently, as secretary and counselor of the Apostolic Nunciatures in Colombia, Nicaragua, France and Serbia In 2007 he returned to the diocese of Toledo, where he has been vicar general since 2018.
He has been a member of the Advisory Commission on Religious Freedom of the Ministry of Justice (2009-2014); He is a Corresponding Academician of the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation of Spain, since 2019. He has been a member of the board of directors of the Spanish Association of Canonists since 2021. On November 15, 2021, César García Magán was appointed auxiliary bishop of Toledo by Pope Francis. He received the episcopal consecration on January 15, 2022.
