Cardinal Francisco Robles Ortega is a Mexican prelate who has taken firm stances on social justice issues, is staunchly anti-abortion, and expressed his opposition to relativism in secular institutions.

Born on March 2, 1949, in Mascota, Jalisco, Mexico, he was ordained as a priest on July 20, 1976, and holds a degree in dogmatic theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University.

His pastoral ministry consisted of serving as parochial vicar, chaplain for women religious, spiritual director then rector at the minor seminary of Autlán, diocesan consultor, and member of various commissions. He was vicar general of Autlán from 1985 to 1991.

Robles Ortega’s ascent in the Church hierarchy began at the age of 42 when he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Toluca and Titular Bishop of Bossa. In 1996, he was installed as Bishop of Toluca, Mexico, marking the beginning of his leadership roles in significant dioceses.

In 2003, Robles Ortega was installed as Archbishop of Monterrey, but his most notable appointment came on November 24, 2007, when Pope Benedict XVI elevated him to cardinal in recognition of his service and leadership within the Church.

In February 2012, Cardinal Robles Ortega was installed as Archbishop of Guadalajara, Jalisco, México, where he continues to be an influential figure in the Church in Mexico and beyond.

The cardinal is known for his active work in several areas of social and religious importance. He has reportedly been a vocal advocate for the elimination of relativism in secular institutions, addressing issues of poverty, emphasizing the importance of family, and working towards the active avoidance of drug infiltration in society.

He maintains a firm posture against abortion in line with Church teaching, considering it an assassination. “Abortion is a total and absolute tragedy of a human being who is gestated,” he once said. However, he has also called for an end to stigmatizing women who abort their children in view of the suffering they experience afterward.

In 2021 the cardinal expressed support for civil unions for same sex couples, despite Church documents explicitly opposing such a stance. People with “same-sex preferences,” he wrote on Twitter in 2021, have the legal right to protect their union, but that does not “equate it to marriage.”

On the Eucharist, he advised attending Mass during Covid instead of watching it on television. He has also stressed the importance of community participation in the Eucharist.

The cardinal does not seem to have made significant public declarations on such issues as the traditional Latin Mass, climate change, synodality, priestly celibacy or migration.