Cardinal Carlos Gustavo Castillo Mattasoglio, the Archbishop of Lima, is a Peruvian prelate famous for holding heterodox positions such as views contradicting the Church’s teaching on the Lord’s death, broader views on abortion and homosexuality, and supporting liberation theology.

Born on February 28, 1950, in Lima, Peru, Castillo pursued his education at Dalton de Lince College and San Agustín College in Lima before earning a bachelor’s degree in social sciences from the National University of San Marcos. His academic journey continued at the Santo Toribio di Mogrovejo major seminary in Lima and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he obtained degrees in philosophy and theology.

Castillo was ordained as a priest for the Archdiocese of Lima on July 15, 1984, by Cardinal Juan Landázuri Ricketts. He further advanced his studies, earning a licentiate and doctorate in dogmatic theology from the Gregorian University in 1985 and 1987, respectively. Upon returning to Peru in 1987, he became deeply involved in various pastoral and academic roles, including serving as an assessor for the National Union of Catholic Students and lecturing in theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.

The cardinal is reported to have always been very close to the people, especially the young and the poor.

In 2013, Castillo Mattasoglio faced controversy when Cardinal Cipriani Thorne, then Archbishop of Lima, suspended him amid allegations of heterodoxy and “attacks on the ecclesiastical hierarchy.” Castillo and Cipriani could not have been more different, the latter being conservative and orthodox. In 1977, Cipriani was the first priest incardinated into Opus Dei to be made a cardinal.

In 2021, Castillo drew headlines again when in a pre-Christmas Mass he contradicted the Church’s teaching on Jesus’ death. Castillo stated that Jesus died as “a layman,” and did so without offering a “sacrifice.”¹He said: “And Jesus doesn’t die offering the sacrifice of a holocaust, Jesus dies as a murdered layman, to which He decides not to respond with vengeance and who accepts the cross to give us a sign of life. And he dies as a layman who gives hope to humanity, he dies as a human being like all of you who are present here, we too, because we can’t be priests without first being baptized lay people,” he said. Castillo said that “lay person comes from laos, which means people. And God wanted to sanctify his people, and if we are here, it is to serve them.””

In recent years, Castillo demanded the abolition of the Sodalitium Vitae Christianae (SCV), a conservative religious group aimed at evangelizing the culture and resisting liberation theology. The movement has been hit by cases of alleged sexual and psychological abuse, physical violence, misappropriation of funds, and other crimes by former members and journalists. Castillo said SCV had “destroyed people” and there was “nothing Christian about it.”

In 2024, Castillo was appointed the coordinator of study group 9 for the Synod on Synodality which is expected to discuss LGBT issues outside of the main assembly that ended in October 2024. He has reportedly shown an openness to the issue, suggesting a willingness for reform in that area and the normalization of homosexual relations in the Church.

Castillo has also shown a “nuanced” position on the issue of abortion. In relation to Peru’s March for Life, the cardinal considered it necessary for society to reflect on the issue more broadly. “If we have to march, we have to do it for all lives and for the lives of everyone […] for equality for people of different sexes and different situations,” he said in 2019.

Despite his controversial words and actions, Pope Francis appointed Castillo Archbishop of Lima on January 25, 2019, and he was installed three months later. Among the notable figures attending was one of liberation theology’s founders, Gustavo Gutiérrez, who had formally called for Castillo’s ordination as bishop. Castillo has long been associated with liberation theology.

The Peruvian cardinal’s appointment was seen as significant, with some describing it as an “ecclesial earthquake” due to his background in liberation theology, his heterodoxy, and his differences with his predecessor.