Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo

Life

He spent his childhood in Caracas, where he attended as a pupil of the primary school Luis de Leon and the parish school of St. Teresa Parish and was an altar boy for six years. He then moved on to a university to Santa Rosa de Lima in Guatemala, after which he began his priestly formation at the seminary of the Archdiocese of Guatemala and in Santa Rosa de Lima. On July 30, 1967, ordained a priest by Archbishop Porras Cardozo Miguel Antonio Salas Salas CIM. In 1975 he was sent to the study of Catholic theology at the Pontifical University of Salamanca to Dr. theol. doctorate.

On July 23, 1983, Pope John Paul II appointed titular bishop of Lamdia and auxiliary bishop in Mérida. He received his episcopal consecration Cardinal José Alí Lebrun Moratinos on 17 September of the same year; Co-consecrators were the archbishops Miguel Antonio Salas Salas CIM and Domingo Roa Pérez.

On 30 October 1991 he was appointed John Paul II appointed Archbishop of Mérida.

On 13 October 2008 he received from the Universidad Nacional Andrés Bello in Chile honorary doctorate in history. He was President of the Episcopal Conference of Venezuela ( CEV) and since 2007 has been vice president of the Latin American Bishops' Council.