Antonio María Javierre Ortas
Antonio María Javierre Ortas S.D.B. was a cardinal of the Catholic Church, and former prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in the Vatican.
Javierre Ortas was born in Siétamo, Spain. He was ordained in 1949 and took his doctorate in theology in Louvain. For many years he lectured in fundamental theology and dogmatics in places such as Turin, Rome, Peru, Guatemala and Poland. During the Second Vatican Council he was a spokesman for the Spanish bishops in ecumenical questions.
In 1976 Pope Paul VI made him archbishop and secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education. He became cardinal deacon in 1988, as well as the librarian and archivist of the Holy Roman Church. In 1992 he was elevated to cardinal priest and prefect for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, positions he kept until 1996. He died in 2007 in Rome.
In 1992, he allowed the existence of female altar servers in the Church, a somewhat controversial decision because the practice had previously been banned by his curial congregation, which cited the role a larger body of male altar servers can play in attracting candidates to the priesthood.
