Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga was born in Tegucigalpa, Capital of Honduras, on 29 December 1942, and knew the Salesians from an early age, completing his elementary and secondary studies at the San Miguel Salesian school in his city. He then did his novitiate in Ayagualo, El Salvador, between 1960 and 1961, and made his first Salesian profession there, on 3 May 1961. He was first an elementary teacher in El Salvador, then a teacher of physics and mathematics, natural sciences and chemistry, and graduated in philosophy from the Don Rua Institute in El Salvador in 1965.
Over those years he also deepened his passion for music, studying piano at the San Salvador Conservatory between 1960 and 1963, and studying harmony and composition in Guatemala and Newton (New Jersey, United States of America), between 1967 and 1970.
At the same time, his vocation continued to grow: on 3 May 1967, in Guatemala, he made his perpetual profession; and then, after completing his theological studies at the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome, on 28 June 1970 he received his priestly ordination, again in Guatemala.
Continuing his studies, he graduated in Moral Theology from the Pontifical Lateran University in 1974, and obtained a Diploma in Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy in Innsbruck, Austria, in 1975.
After returning to his Province of Central America, he taught for many years in different Salesian schools and formation houses in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, ranging from chemistry to music, from physics to theology. Appointed Secretary of the Faculty of Theology of the Francisco Marroquín University in Guatemala (1974-1976), he was then Rector of the Salesian philosophical institute in Guatemala for the three-year period 1975-1978.
He was appointed titular Bishop of Pudenziana and Auxiliary of Tegucigalpa on 28 October 1978 and received episcopal ordination in Tegucigalpa on 8 December 1978. A few years later he was also asked to work as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Santa Rosa de Copán, Honduras, a position he held from 1981 to 1984.
Appointed Archbishop of Tegucigalpa on 8 January 1993, he also received a second position on this occasion, as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of San Pedro Sula, between 1993 and 1995.
At the level of the national Church he was Vice President of Caritas Honduras (1979-1988), and then Secretary General (1980-1988) and President of the Episcopal Conference (1996-2016).
Also important was his service in the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM), where he was a Member of the Episcopal Commission of the Department of Education (1979-1981); Delegate of the Episcopal Conference of Honduras (1979-1987); Head of the Youth Ministry Section, (1981-1985); President of the Department of Consecrated Life (1985-1987); Head of the Secretariat of Pastoral work for Human Mobility (1987-1991); Secretary General (1987-1991); President of the Economic Committee (1991-1995). He was President of CELAM from 1995 to 1999.
In recent years, through his public interventions, he has become known for his battles against drugs and corruption, as well as for his criticism of economic systems that result in exploitation and marginalisation. Due to his constant attention to the social dimension of ecclesial ministry, he was also elected President of Caritas Internationalis, maintaining this position from 2007 to 2015.
He was created Cardinal by Pope John Paul II on 21 February 2001, in a consistory that saw, among others, the choice of his confrere Antonio Ignacio Velasco García as cardinal and also the then Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, today Pontiff.
On 13 April 2013, Pope Francis appointed him a Member, with the function of Coordinator, of the Council of Cardinals, to assist him in the governance of the universal Church and to study a project to revise the Apostolic Constitution Pastor bonus on the Roman Curia. He held this position for 10 years, until the expiry of the Council's mandate and after the effective enactment of the Apostolic Constitution.
In the Curia he also served with many other positions, having been a member, over the years, of the Congregation for the Clergy, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, and the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
From 26 January 2023 he has became bishop emeritus of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa.
