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Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva (Río Gallegos, April 12, 1968) is an Argentine Catholic bishop, lawyer and canon lawyer. He has been the bishop of Rio Gallegos in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina since 2019. He was named by Pope Francis as Member of the Dicastery for Bishops of the Roman Curia in July 2021.

He is known for his pastoral in poor neighborhoods and prisons and for being "a bishop of the peripheries". He is the Director of the Diplomatura in Prison Pastoral without Borders at the Episcopal Conference of Latin America (CELAM).

Early Years and Academic Formation
Born in the Rio Gallegos, Santa Cruz, in Argentina's deep south, he is the eldest of five children of Antonio García Cuerva and Graciela García Cuerva.

In 1986 he began a course of legal studies at the University of Buenos Aires. Around this time he began mission work in the poor neighborhoods of El Palito and El Garrote in the Tigre, Buenos Aires. It was at this time that he discovered his vocation that led him to abandon his legal studies, which he resumed and completed years later.

At the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina (UCA), he obtained a Bachelor of Sacred Theology and two post-graduate titles: a Licentiate in theology with a specialization in History of the Catholic Church (2003), Thesis in Spanish: "The Church in Buenos Aires during the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1871" and a Liceniate in Canon Law (2016), Thesis in Spanish: "Ecclesiastical Funerals y Cemeteries in Canon Law."

At the Catholic University of Salta (UCASAL), he obtained a Licentiate in Law (2009).

Priesthood
He was ordained a priest on October 24, 1997 in the San Isidro Cathedral in Buenos Aires province by Bishop Alcides Jorge Pedro Casaretto and was incardinated to the Diocese of San Isidro. He began his ministry in the poor neighborhoods of the rust-belt suburbs. He was parochial vicar at the Nuestra Señora de la Cava Church in La Cava, a noted shanty town. In 2006 he became parish priest of the Santa Clara de Asís Church in the town of El Talar, Tigre district, in the poor neighborhoods of San Pablo and Almirante Brown.

In 2014 he returned to La Cava as parish priest. A local column from the time reports that "he displayed his vocation to share life with the poorest in his parish in Villa La Cava (Our Lady of La Cava), tenderly embracing those lives consumed by various addictions... Fr. García Cuerva was employing his solid academic background (he is a historian, lawyer, expert in Canon Law) that he complemented with an absolutely palpable Christian sensibility."

He was a member of the National Commission on Drug Dependence of the Episcopal Conference of Argentina until 2013. In the Diocese of San Isidro he was: Vice President of Caritas (2012-2017), Adviser of Canon Law, Promoter of Justice in the Interdiocesan Court of San Isidro-Merlo-Moreno.

Pastoral or Prisions
In the field of Prison Ministry, he was: Chaplain of prison units in the Province of Buenos Aires since 2011, Diocesan Delegate for Prison Ministry since 1997, Regional Delegate for Prison Ministry, Representative of Latin America and the Caribbean before the International Commission for Catholic Prison Pastoral Care (ICCPPC) in 2010 and 2017.

He has written several analises on the prison situation.

Auxillary Bishop of Lomas de Zamora
On November 20, 2017, he was appointed by Pope Francis as Titular Bishop of the former See of Lacubaza and as Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Lomas de Zamora. He was ordained bishop on March 3, 2018.

Bishop of Rio Gallegos
On January 3, 2019, he was appointed Bishop of Río Gallegos by Pope Francis. He began his pastoral ministry there on March 23, 2019.

With the arrival of the pandemic COVID-19, his studies on the yellow fever epidemic of 1871 and his work on the subject of funerals allowed him to reflect, “The pandemic has laid bare what our priorities have been, what our activities are and it has also laid bare what has been the way we had to experience death. We have discovered the need we have to revalue funeral rites, we have discovered how important it is to be able to say goodbye to our loved ones and we saw how important it is to be able to accompany them in moments of so much pain.



Roman Curia
On July 20, 2021, Pope Francis appointed him a member of the Dicastery for Bishops. On the occasion García Cuerva commented "I want to contribute to the model of bishop that Francis asks of us: a poor bishop for the poor" In response to what type of bishops he would seek, he replied, "I think that Pope Francis, in a simple but very graphic way, presents the profile of the bishop that the Church needs when he says that he wants a Church that is going out, a poor Church for the poor, bishops who are close to the people, bishops who are close to Jesus in prayer, and close to the priests who are their first neighbors, shepherds with the smell of sheep, close to the suffering of our people."

Currently
Currently works as:

Bishop of Rio Gallegos

Member of the Dicastery for Bishops of the Roman Curia

Vice President of the International Commission of Catholic Prison Pastoral Care (ICCPPC)

Member of the National Secretariat for Prison Ministry within the Episcopal Conference

Director of the Diploma in Prison Ministry, "Prison Ministry without Borders", organized by CEBITEPAL, Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM), since February 2022.

Pontifical Commissioner of the Miles Christi Institute