Julián Cardinal Herranz Casado (born March 31, 1930) is a Roman Catholic cardinal and President Emeritus of Interpretation of Legislative Texts for the Roman Curia. He is considered one of the foremost experts in Catholic canon law and is one of only two cardinals who is a member of the religious society Opus Dei. Herranz is also believed to have been one of the Vatican's most influential figures during the period shortly before the death of Pope John Paul II.

Herranz was born in Baena in Córdoba province, Spain. He joined Opus Dei in 1949 and was ordained as a priest in 1955 after attaining doctorates in both medicine and canon law. He taught canon law at the University of Navarre and travelled on behalf of Opus Dei until 1960, when he began to work for the Roman Curia, the administration of the Holy See. In 1983, he was appointed secretary for the Pontifical Commission for the Authentic Interpretation of the Code of Canon Law. In January 1991, he was ordained titular archbishop of Vertara. In 1994, he was made President of Interpretation of Legislative Texts for the Roman Curia, a position in which he was responsible for advising the Vatican and the Pope on matters of church law. He held this position until the death of Pope John Paul II; since it is traditional for most Vatican officials to resign in the absence of a Pope, Herranz left office on April 2, 2005.

According Vatican journalist Sandro Magister , by the end of 2004, Herranz was "constantly gaining influence" in the internal affairs of the Vatican. Along with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI), Angelo Cardinal Sodano, and the Pope's personal secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, Herranz is believed to have been largely responsible for leading the Roman Curia at times when the Pope was incapacitated for illness.[1]

Herranz was elevated to the position of Cardinal Deacon by Pope John Paul in 2003. He was eligible to vote in the Papal conclave of 2005. Although he was not generally considered a strong candidate to become Pope himself, he was described as a highly influential insider, potentially playing the role of a "kingmaker" at the conclave. It has been reported that, both before and after Pope John Paul's death, Herranz convened meetings of cardinals at a villa in Grottarossa , a suburb of Rome.[2]

External links

• Biography from the Vatican
• An article by Sandro Magister about the politics of the Vatican. October, 2004
• An interview with Cardinal Herranz about canon law