Daniel Fernando Sturla Berhouet was born on 4 July 1959 in Montevideo. His father was a lawyer and died when he was thirteen, while his mother, a housewife, died three years later. He was the youngest of five children: the other siblings are Martín, who held important political positions at national level at the end of the 20th century, before an untimely death; Maria Isabel, Maria Antonia and Maria Laura. The family attended the parish of Mary Help of Christians in Montevideo and so the future cardinal had his first contacts with the Sons of Don Bosco at a very early age.
Although he attended primary and secondary school up to the fourth year at St. John the Baptist College run by the Religious of the Holy Family, he then obtained a bachelor's degree in law at the 'John XXIII' Institute of the Salesians in Montevideo, and there he rediscovered the figure of Saint John Bosco. Attracted by his charisma, he entered the Salesian novitiate and made his religious profession on 31 January 1980.
After a bachelor's degree in Civil Law at the John XXIII Institute, he completed his studies in Philosophy and Educational Sciences at the Michael Rua Institute in the capital. And after his apprenticeship from 1982 to 1983 at the Talleres Don Bosco workhouse, from 1984 to 1987 he pursued his studies in Theology at the Mons. Mariano Soler Institute, now the Faculty of Theology.
On 21 November 1987, he was ordained in his first parish, that of Mara Ausiliatrice in Montevideo, and the following year he was appointed as the Prefect of studies at Talleres Don Bosco, a post that he held until 1990. He also worked on the early stages of the Tacurú Movement, an institution that seeks to improve the living conditions of poor adolescents. From 1991 to 1993 he was Vicar of the novitiate and post-novitiate of the Uruguay Province (URU), then from 1994 to 1996 he was Rector of the Salesian Aspirantate and Novice Master. In addition, from 2003 to 2008 he was the Director of the 'John XXIII' pre-university institute and Professor of Church History from 2007 to 2008. During those years, he continued his studies in Theology, and in 2006 he obtained his Master’s from the 'Mons. Mariano Soler' Faculty of Theology.
He was among the participants of the 25th and 26th General Chapters (2002 and 2008) of the Salesian Congregation. In the meantime, he began to teach Church history in America and Uruguay, taking care of research and publications especially on the question of the relationship between religious institutions and state authority, a very important issue in Uruguay, a country that has made secularism one of its flags. In 2008 he was Superior of the Salesian Province of Uruguay, and he was also being elected, at that time, as the president of the Conference of Religious of Uruguay (CONFRU), but he was unable to complete the envisaged six-year term due to his sudden appointment as auxiliary bishop of Montevideo and titular of Felbes, received on 10 December 2011.
He was Consecrated bishop on 4 March 2012 in the metropolitan Cathedral of Montevideo. He chose a motto, very much Salesian, 'Serve the Lord with joy'.
Within the Episcopal Conference of Uruguay, he was also in charge of the Department of Missions and Laity.
On 11 February 2014, Pope Francis promoted him as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Montevideo, where he took office on 9 March 2014.
Again in 2015, Pope Francis, announced his name as a Cardinal in the Consistory of 14 February 2015, of the title of Saint Galla, receiving the red biretta, ring and cardinal's title in the same Consistory. He is the second cleric in the history of Uruguay to receive the purple, preceded on the chair of Montevideo by Capuchin Antonio Maria Barbieri, created cardinal by John XXIII in 1958.
Keeping in mind his service to the Universal Church, Pope Francis appointed him a member of the Dicasteries for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments; for Evangelization; of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America; and of the Office for the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See.
