User:Blacksod/Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva

Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva (Río Gallegos, Provincia de Santa Cruz, Argentina, 12 de abril de 1968) es un obispo católico, abogado, y canonista argentino. Actualmente es el Obispo de Rio Gallegos y es miembro del Dicasterio para los Obispos de la Curia Romana.

Primeros años
He performed his primary and secondary studies in Rio Gallegos. He then studied law but upon discovering his religious vocation, he abandoned those studies and enorlled as a student at the seminary of the Diócesis de San Isidro.

Formation
At the seminary he studied Filosofía y Teología, through the Instituto de San Agustín.

He later obtained a bachelor degree in Sacred Theology at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina Santa María de los Buenos Aires (UCA), at which returned on two occasions to complete his formation. In 2003 he received a licencurate in Theology with a specialty in Historia de la Iglesia Católica and in 2016 received a licenturate in Derecho canónico.

He was also a student at the Catholic University of Salta (UCASAL) to complete his legal studies, receiving a licenturate in  2009.

Pastoral Ministry
He was ordained as priest on October 24,1997 in the Catedral de San Isidro Labrador by Bishop "Monseñor" Alcides Jorge Pedro Casaretto.

After his ordination he was was attached to the Diócesis de San Isidro. He began his ministry as as porroquial vicar at Our Lady of la Cava in the villa de emergencia La Cava in the Beccar neighborhood. In 2006 he became the parish priest of the Santa Clara de Asís church in El Talar and in 2014 reutrned to La Cava to be the parish priest of that same church.

Also during these years he was active as: Diocesan Delegate of the Penitentiary Pastoral, Regional Delegate of the Prison Pastoral, Latin American representative to the International Commission of the Catholic Penitentiary Pastoral (ICCPPC) and member of the National Commission Drug Dependency of the Conferencia Episcopal Argentina.

In addition to being parish priest in La Cava, he served as Vicepresident of the ICCPPC and of Caritas in San Isidro, Canon Law consultant for the diocese, Promotor of Justice in the Inter-diocesan Tribunal of San Isidro-Merlo-Moreno,  Member del National Secretariat of the Prison Pastoral inside the Episcopal Conference, Chaplain to prisons in the Provincia de Buenos Aires and Coordinator of the Prison Pastoral in the Departament of Justice y Solidarity in the Consejo Episcopal Latinoamericano (CELAM).

On November 20, 2017 he was named by Papa Francisco as Obispo Titular of the ancient See of Lacubaza and as Obispo Auxiliar of the Diócesis de Lomas de Zamora. . He was ordained bishop on March 3, 2018.

On January 3, 2019 he was named bishop de Río Gallegos by Pope Francis. He began his pastoral there on March 23, 2019.

On July 20, 2021 Pope Francis named him member of the Dicasterio para los Obispos. On that occasion García Cuerva commented, “I wish to contribute following the model of a bishop that Francis requests: a poor bishop for the poor.”