Pope appoints Dominican Cardinal as special envoy to Cumana, Venezuela

Santo Domingo.– Pope Francis appointed Dominican Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez, Archbishop of Santo Domingo, as his special envoy for the celebration of the fifth centenary of the city of Cumana (Venezuela), Efe reported.

The Holy See said in a statement that the Venezuelan city is where the evangelization of South America began, the celebration will take place on November 27.

Lopez Rodriguez was born on 31 October 1936 in Barranca, Dominican Republic and was ordained on 18 March 1961 by Francisco Panal Ramirez OFM, bishop of La Vega.

The Cardinal is also an alumnus of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas Angelicum from which he earned a licentiate in social science in 1965. Besides his native Spanish, he speaks Italian, English, German, Portuguese and Latin.