His Eminence Darío Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos (born 4 July 1929) is a Cardinal Deacon and Prefect of the Congregation for Clergy in the Roman Catholic Church.

Born in Medellín, Colombia, Castrillón Hoyos was ordained a priest on 26 October 1952 after his studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. There, he earned a doctorate in canon law.

In Colombia, he was a curate for two rural parishes, taught canon law at the Free Civil University and was General Secretary of the Colombian Bishops' Conference. In 1971, he was elected titular Bishop of Pereira.

From 1983 to 1987, he was General Secretary of the Latin American Episcopal Council and was president of the council from 1987 to 1991. On 16 December 1992, Castrillón Hoyos was appointed by Pope John Paul II as the head of the Congregation for the Clergy; in this post, he was responsible for the celebrations commemorating the 50th anniversary of John Paul II's ordination as a priest. He was Archbishop of Bucaramanga from 1992 to 1996, and chaired the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei in 2000.

He was proclaimed Cardinal by John Paul II in the consistory of 21 February 1998, with the title of Cardinal Deacon of the Most Holy Name of Mary on the Forum Traiano. Castrillón Hoyos was one of the cardinals considered papabile at the 2005 Papal conclave to elect a successor to John Paul II.

External link

• Biography at catholic-pages.com